Chapter 103 - A Method to the Madness

“Last round, Skyle. Give it your all!”

Skyle tightened his grip on the axe he held while shifting his feet sideways. Talon had already caught him several times while he was trying to balance his stance, so this time Skyle took care not to lower his guard as he repositioned himself.

Talon’s feet were a blur as they danced around Skyle, probing for openings. Skyle found sweat streaming down his face as he struggled to keep up with his opponent’s movement. Had he been wielding a more agile weapon, he might not need to pay such close attention to spacing. However, during the past hour, Skyle had come to learn that due to the sheer weight of his weapon and the momentum of his swings, he needed to be a miser in regards to any attacking or defending motions.

Talon, in the other hand, could afford to splurge. He constantly sent out probing stabs and feinted with lightning quick slashes. Each attack set Skyle’s teeth on edge, even though the True Sight could accurately read which attacks were feints or real assaults. The reason was that Talon had insane reflexes, and would instantly convert a feint into a real attack the moment he perceived a flaw in Skyle’s defense.

Thus, Skyle spent most of the match constantly backing away. He used the superior mass of the weapon as a shield, shifting his own body more often than the weapon itself to hide behind its bulk. Cautiously, he tried to mix in a few answering counter-attacks of his own.

He had quickly come to realize that if he only focused on defense, Talon would rain a storm of blows that would inevitably overwhelm him. Thus, Skyle constantly circled around the arena, backing away and sending a few warning blows to keep Talon as far from him as he could. This bought him precious time, which Skyle used to draw a precious few breaths through the wheezing bellows of his chest.

Then Talon closed the distance again, sending lightning fast stabs that each seemed to exploit a particular weakness in Skyle’s stance. Only after a series of frantic, if well-calculated defensive moves, was Skyle able to retreat once more.

He could even afford to flash a tremulous smile. In this last exchange, and for the first time, he hadn’t even been struck once! Instead, he forced Talon to pause his stream of attacks with a well-timed counter.

Such a delicate balance was all thanks to his father’s lessons. Surprisingly, Skyle had found that many of the basic principles for the sword katas were just as useful across different weapons. He couldn’t follow the exact same sword patterns with the axe, but balance, positioning, weapon reach, and other similar key concepts were universal.

He even found that footwork was exceptionally useful at keeping his hide free of additional welts. Already, he sported a fair share of stinging marks on his skin, the consequence of mistakes which Skyle had to admit had been entirely avoidable.

Talon was a superbly gifted instructor. He would exploit any glaring weaknesses yet also allow Skyle just enough space that he could, in turn, strike out and test out the waters himself. Of course, he never came close to scoring a hit, but that wasn’t the point.

Skyle found himself slowly immersed into a complex dance with a very simple set of rules. His main priority was to maintain an optimal distance from his attacker. Too close, and he would succumb to the superior agility and speed of Talon’s rapier. Too far, and Skyle would find himself outmaneuvered, unable to keep his opponent in front of him because he could not exert enough pressure to box him in.

This was a delicate balance that began to fan a delightful fire in Skyle’s chest, setting aside the many stinging welts on his skin. It was a deadly game of cat and mouse, where Skyle lived only for the precious few moments when he could, through a particularly brilliant read of his opponent’s attack or an ingenious set of moves, reverse the roles. Such moments only lasted for a few heartbeats, after which Skyle would find himself driven back once again.

However, when he did manage such moments of rare brilliance, even Talon’s eyes shone with surprise and quiet praise.

Much of this was thanks to his True Sight and the Maw of the Void. Scanning Talon’s aura allowed him to read concentrations of red essence and the direction they followed. This was incredibly useful in reading Talon’s attacks. It only bought Skyle a precious moment or two, but even a fraction of a second was incredibly precious.

As for the Maw of the Void, Skyle was only able to sustain such a grueling pace thanks to the additional energy he was able to harvest with this technique. Otherwise, he was certain that he would have collapsed within the first fifteen minutes. Indeed, the greatest surge of surprise in Talon’s aura had been at Skyle’s sheer stamina.

Skyle shifted his axe over his left shoulder, all the while lowering his hips and advancing forward. A dull clang echoed from his weapon as he blocked Talon’s latest blow. Using the superior momentum of his weapon, he boldly turned his deflection into a charge as he trapped Talon’s weapon against his.

His opponent shifted sideways and retracted the rapier, aiming to deliver a slash at Skyle’s hips as he moved past the boy. The edge had been dulled with Talon’s elemental essence, but such a blow would still sting like hell.

Eyes flaring wide as he grasped this opening he had been waiting for, Skyle lowered the hilt of his axe just enough that the edge of the rapier struck its pommel. Meanwhile, Skyle’s hand streaked forward to aim a punch against Talon’s side.

Talon’s aura flashed with a flare of yellow, even as his expression turned to one of pleasant surprise. Skyle instantly regretted catching the look, however, because he would have been better off watching his opponent’s feet.

Just as he was about to land his punch, Skyle’s feet were swept from under him by Talon’s kick. It was barely more than a nudge, but it still sent the boy stumbling forward to eat a mouthful of dust. He swallowed his regret and reacted immediately, rolling sideways.

It was not nearly fast enough. Talon delivered a sound blow to the boy’s ass even as Skyle desperately tried to evade the blow. The desperate move had him jump backward as soon as he reached his feet, not daring to use a hand to massage the pain away from his butt.

He had learned better.

“That’ll do for tonight. Good job, Skyle.”

Skyle lay wheezing in a jumbled mess of sweat and red welts. The hour of sparring had been excruciating. Talon was skilled and experienced enough to push Skyle just far enough that he always felt as though the blow could have been avoided, but he was never able to quite manage it.

Eyeing the massive two-handed axe lying by his feet with a baleful glare, Skyle still had to admit that the match hadn’t been an entirely unjust one. Though his spindly arms could not maneuver the unfamiliar weapon with enough dexterity to parry Talon’s blows, each time it left another welt on his skin, Skyle was stung even more by the nagging feeling that had he been just a hair stronger or a fraction of a second faster, he could have avoided the blow.

In the end, it was as Talon had said. He was simply not strong, fast, or skilled enough. Still, Skyle was elated by the progress he had made just within this past hour alone. Merging the Infinite Eye’s superb observational capabilities with the True Sight’s monitoring of Talon’s aura and Skyle’s own body, turned each moment of fighting into a rich learning experience.

“You can wash yourself in the back. I expect you back here in ten minutes for your next lesson.”

Suppressing a groan, Skyle forced himself to his feet and limped away to do as instructed. After washing up with a couple buckets of water, Skyle was amazed to find that his energy was swiftly recovering. Even all the strained muscles in his body were repairing themselves at a pace which beggared his imagination. Though he had been wheezing and shaking all over toward the end of the sparring session, after only ten minutes’ break, he felt as though he had recovered at least 20% of his fighting capabilities.

“Does that mean that as long as I have enough food, I can recover completely in less than an hour?”

Skyle was astounded by this discovery. The Maw of the Void was simply too powerful. Even more incredible was the fact that Skyle could feel that each muscle he had worked during this sparring session was stronger and more resilient than before. Though their size didn’t visibly increase, the concentration of energy they could hold was noticeably thicker.

There were still many inefficiencies in how the energy was distributed and absorbed. For instance, some muscle groups received more energy than they could absorb, leaving the leftover energy to dissipate. Other muscles received too little, making them lag behind other parts of his body.

It was frustrating that he could only watch instead of controlling the process himself. He seemed to recall that the second level of the Maw of the Void, Assimilate, would create a cycle of renewal and consumption within his own body. Was that when he would be able to control the rate and manner in which his body distributed the energy?

Skyle was still thinking about this when he returned to Talon.

“You did very well for your first combat session. Did you learn anything from using the axe?”

Skyle scratched his head as he thought about all the things he had learned. “It was very hard in the beginning, but somewhere along the way I began to realize that many of the principles of sword fighting or even unarmed combat could be applied to axes.”

Talon nodded. “Exactly. That’s where your strengths lie, Skyle. Though you’re not familiar with specific fighting techniques for most weapons, the most important principles of combat have already been carved into your body. In particular, your natural sense of balance, reading your opponent’s intent, and ability to measure or even manipulate reach and distance, are superb.”

Skyle’s face flushed at the undeserved praise, particularly where the True Sight was involved.

“I know you have inherited several gifts from your bloodline. It is a powerful one, though I’m not familiar with the details. Still, you must understand that there is no shame in relying on such. In fact, you should develop those powers and hone them into deadly weapons in your arsenal.”

Looking up with start, Skyle stared at Talon. “You know about my bloodline?”

Talon waved his hand. “Like I said, I only know your mother belongs to a very powerful family. Though I don’t know exactly what powers you have inherited, I know such a legacy runs deep. I’d be glad to help you analyze and develop such powers as best I can, but if you want to keep them to yourself, I’ll understand.”

Skyle didn’t hesitate at all. His parents had left him in Talon’s care. Beyond that, he trusted his Uncle Talon. Though Skyle knew they weren’t blood relatives, Talon had always been treated as part of the family.

It took a good while to explain everything he could to Talon about the Desolate Star Technique and the True Sight. His uncle listened carefully and asked insightful questions from time to time. They even helped Skyle explore aspects of his power that he hadn’t considered.

“I can’t make out anything from this,” Talon said at length, returning Fierro’s journal to Skyle. “I’d say it is either keyed to your bloodline, or a talent that you were either born with or acquired with time. In any case, you have gained an incredible asset to your arsenal. From now on, I want you to make this technique your top priority.”

Skyle looked slightly doubtful. “It’s very powerful, but we don’t know much about it, Uncle Talon.”

Talon smiled at that. “We know enough. One of your greatest weaknesses is your inability to channel elemental essence. Even leaving aside elemental spells, it means your body is not as fast, strong, or resilient as others’. That automatically places you at a disadvantage. You have been able to compensate incredibly well thus far, but now you have this mysterious shadow essence.”

Talon shook his head as he squinted toward Skyle. “I still can’t detect anything, and I have honed my senses to read even the slightest fluctuations of elemental essence. I can tell there’s a peculiar flux in the essence around you, but there’s not even a hint of the shadow essence you mention. This means it can be an incredible weapon in the future!”

“You mean for sneak attacks?”

Talon chuckled and shook his head. “You’re doing your gifts a disservice. I can finally understand what happened at the test results earlier today.”

Skyle jumped up when he heard his uncle’s words. “You know about that?”

Talon smiled wryly at his nephew, ruffling his head. “Hey, don’t you know your Uncle Talon’s a super secret Imperial spy? Don’t look down on Shadow, Skyle.”

Quickly shaking his head, Skyle felt his cheeks growing hot. “Were you there the whole time? Was that you that helped me with the elements running rampant?”

Talon nodded, waving off the stunned expression on Skyle’s face. “I was aware that your bloodline might have unexpected results with the test, so I was ready to interfere. In the end, I only had to encourage those spirits to play nice.”

“So you could see those shameless spirits too?” Even now, Skyle felt indignant when he thought about the dreadful ordeal those spirits had put him through at the Regis test. “Was there a reason no one else could?”

“I suspect the summoner present was also able to see the spirits. Though she’s only an early stage sage summoner, she seems fairly gifted.”

“Only an early stage sage?” Skyle stared at Talon, goggle-eyed. “What level are you at, Uncle Talon?”

Talon grinned, winking at Skyle. “That’s for me to know, and you to find out. Back to what’s important though, you were able to disrupt magical artifacts in front of three academy masters and even one sage level summoner. Do you realize what that means?”

Skyle thought about it, scratching at his head. “That I can break things without others seeing?”

Talon rolled his eyes. “Think harder, Skyle. You can disrupt spell matrices that have been stabilized in artifact form. I suggest you take your spell matrix foundations class at the academy seriously. For now though, you have the potential to counter every mage practitioner without them being able to realize it, much less prevent it from happening.”

Skyle stared as he registered those words. “Counter mages?”

Talon nodded, elaborating. “You must understand, Skyle, that spells require a complex set of magical sigils, gestures and incantations. It is how mortals like us are able to channel the power of the elements to produce the desired effects. How do you imagine a fight between mages would take place? In a bard’s tales, they would square off against each other and hurl one spell after another until one side eventually overwhelms the other, right?”

Skyle nodded numbly, recalling many such tales.

“In practice, combat between mages is much more subtle and technical than that. While there are still many instances in which one side simply overwhelms the other with power, such brute force methods only work to a certain extent. As you progress into higher realms of power, combat becomes much more technical, and each mage focuses more on countering the spells of the opponent. Think of it in terms of using skill to circumvent an enemy’s shield, rather than breaking it through sheer force. Which do you think is more effective?”

“Technique, of course.”

“Right. In fact, my own spell matrix lab focuses on counter-spelling, and that’s what I will be teaching you. Your shadow essence would only make it even more effective. You can read the opponent’s flows with your True Sight, then use invisible strands of shadow essence that your opponent will be helpless against. You tell me, is that powerful or not?”

Skyle enthusiastically bobbed his head up and down.

“There are countless other applications. Have you thought of a way to absorb elemental essence into your body using your shadow essence?”

Skyle frowned, shaking his head. “Uncle Talon, I already told you what happened when I tried to do that at the test. The taint in my veins stirs and begins to gobble the elemental essence.”

“No, I didn’t mean merging it into your veins. I won’t waste time with the details, since you’ll learn the particulars at the Warrior School. They focus on absorbing elemental essence into their bones and muscles in order to strengthen them. This is an entirely different process from drawing elemental essence into your veins. The former strengthens the body, while the latter accumulates essence in your veins to increase your elemental power. That’s not even considering the fact of whether you can strengthen your flesh using the shadow essence itself. Have you tried?”

Skyle shook his head. “Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

“It could be, but anything worth trying carries a certain element of danger. We can try little by little, and measure the results as we go. What do you think?”

Beaming at his uncle, Skyle nodded firmly.

“Also, I want you to train using your True Sight as often as possible. Does it interfere at all with your regular vision?”

Skyle shook his head. “It’s almost like a seperate sense, different from physical sight. I can hold both images in my head at the same time.”

“Good. How long can you maintain the True Sight for?”

“I haven’t tried measuring that. I usually activate it only when necessary. I’d say maybe a half hour of continuous use? I’d have to try to know for sure.”

“Then you do that. By tomorrow night, I want you to tell me exactly how long you can maintain the True Sight for. From what you’ve told me, the Infinite Eye, the Far Sight, and the True Sight improve the more you use them. If so, I want you to use them as often as you can without hurting yourself. So long as they’re renewable resources, there’s no sense in not developing them as much as possible. In fact, you should have been doing so already.”

“You’re right, Uncle Talon. I’ll do that right away.”

“Remember to write down exactly how long you can maintain each vision, and to what extent. Record ranges, intensity, and any other measurable statistic. Also pay attention to the strengths and weaknesses of each sense so we can set out a schedule to work on each of them.”

Skyle nodded again, hanging his head in shame that he hadn’t been doing so already. While he wanted to develop his talents as much as possible, he had never been nearly as systematic in his approach as what Talon was now suggesting.

Suddenly, he felt strong hands gripping his shoulders. Looking up, he saw Talon gazing at him with an intensity that was contagious.

“Cheer up, Skyle. I need you to be driven and determined. Forget whatever mistakes you feel you’ve made in the past. Focus on the moment, and what you will set out to do in the future. That is what truly matters.”

“I will, Uncle Talon. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t. I’m counting on it. Else, all the stacks of paperwork piling up on my desk due to my neglect would be for nothing.”

Skyle couldn’t help but grin at that, but there was a tremor of uncertainty toward the end.

“Are you sure it’s alright for you to move here and stay with us for so long? What about your job?”

Talon’s expression grew more serious. “This is exactly where I need to be, for the time being. I told you the storm’s coming.”

His uncle held up a finger to forestall Skyle’s next question. “Ah, no more about that. At least, not for the time being. You should focus entirely on your training for now. I promise, when you grow stronger, things will become clearer to you. I might even need you to help your Uncle Talon from time to time. Think you can manage that?”

Skyle quickly bobbed his head up and down, his lights glittering like stars. “Oh yes, please!”

Talon chuckled dryly. “It’s not as glamorous as you think, and a lot more dangerous than you imagine. Still, you need to get your feet wet, and the sooner, the better. For now, you need to focus on your training. You’re still so weak I still need to babysit you. The moment I can set my mind at ease about you, that’ll be helping me already.”

“I understand, Uncle Talon. I’ll do my best!”

“Good, then take a look at that.” Talon pointed to a large slate hanging upon the wall, where a long list had been written with chalk.

“What is this?” Skyle mumbled, reading its contents.

“Your schedule for the time being. Make sure you follow it to the letter, especially when I’m not here.”

“You’re leaving?” Skyle tried not to let the dismay he felt show, and failed miserably.

“I can’t sit around looking over your shoulder the whole time, Skyle. You’re almost all grown up, so most of your training here will be self-guided. I know you’ll do your best even if I’m not here, but I want you to do better.”

Skyle nodded as he read list to himself.

Stealth course warm up - 15 minutes. Combat - 1 hour. 1st day: Two-handed axe. 2nd day: Short-sword and Shield. 3rd day: Steel Whip. 4th day: Morning Star. 5th day: Bound staff. 6th day: One-handed sword. Stealth course warm down - 15 minutes. Alchemy - 45 minutes. 1st day: Foundations of Alchemy, chapter 1. 2nd day: Foundations of Alchemy, chapter 2. 3rd day: Alchemy lab exercise. 4th day: The Essence of Poison, chapter 1 5th day: All That Glitters is Not Gold, chapter 1. 6th day: Practice. Counter-spelling - 45 minutes. 1st day: Introduction to Spellcraft and the Art of Counter-spelling, chapter 1. 2nd day: Introduction to Spellcraft and the Art of Counter-spelling, chapter 2. 3rd day: Counter-spelling lab. 4th day: Spell Matrix Compendium, part 1. 5th day: Spell matrix lab. 6th day: Projects Espionage and assassination - 45 minutes. 1st day: The War of Nations, chapter 1. 2nd day: The War of Nations, chapter 2. 3rd day: Practice. 4th day: Secrets of the Human Anatomy, chapter 1. 5th day: Biology lab. 6th day: Practice. Meditation - 30 minutes.

Looking at the bewildering list of subjects and books, Skyle felt overwhelmed. Looking up at Talon, he found no sympathy in his uncle’s gaze.

“No time to waste, Skyle. Follow me, I’ll show you the stealth course. It may be a little rough on you for the first few weeks, but I’m sure it’ll grow on you.”