Chapter 75

Lykan

Training Chambers

The first thing that Lykan realized about the training chamber he was in was that it was oddly familiar. It took a moment for his mind to process what he was seeing, a why it all seemed so familiar. First, he was in a dome of some sort, the spherical nature of the projection he was in seemed to be important. Also, as the scenario first began Lykan could feel a pulse of energy radiate out from a ball held at the center of the room.

From the pulse of energy came a deluge of images that filled the surrounding dome around Lykan, making him get the distinct feel that he was in a jungle of some kind. Only now once he was fully immersed in the visions created by the projection did he begin to realize why this all looked so familiar. The truth was he had seen this type of projection before, during his time with the high wood elves.

In fact, he was sort of angry with himself for missing the obvious comparisons. The only difference was that there was nowhere for him to place his palm to give energy, as energy seemed to be taken directly from the soles of his feet.

That made him think of his high wood elven shoes that had somehow gone missing during his time at the academy. He had learned so much while at the Academy, but now that he was once again a null. The only thing that he could still use from his days at the Academy was oddly enough his rune crafting, a minor skill he picked up when learning his vocation. He didn’t realize why he had been drawn to such a career path while at the Academy, but now he suddenly wondered if there was something more to the way he saw the world. Whether there was some grand design he was meant to follow. Such thoughts were quickly removed from his mind as the scenario came to life before him.

Can you see me. The hunter versus hunted scenario: You must hide from your attacker while sneaking up and eliminating your opponent first.

That was nice, Lykan thought to himself. He wondered why the version that the high wood elves used didn’t have something similar. Then he thought back and realized that parts of the construct had been reworked. The orb where a hand was placed looked like one of the sensor pads on the floor that had been elevated. Also, the energy required by the one used by the high wood elves required mana. This one required Qi, at least Qi is the name that seemed to be applied to the new form of energy flowing through Lykan’s body.

Lykan was so lost in his own thoughts that he barely noticed the shifting of the wind in front of him. Only at the last second did he register an attack. Lykan tried to move, but it was too late as he felt a sharp piercing pain in his chest right next to his heart.

You have died. You have used the first of three chances at this trial. Two more sessions remain.

Lykan stood there for a moment. He felt better knowing that the pain was all illusionary, but it still felt painful. Even now he could feel how a sliver of energy had been removed from his body from the attack. Panting to himself he barely recovered by the time the next scenario began.

You are not hiding.

A warning text appeared.

You have been spotted.

There was another blurring of the wind, this time from his right. Lykan tried to move out of the way, but the blur just adjusted its pace and then wham. A piercing slice cut his arm that he somehow got up in time to block an attack.

You have lost this match. You have used the second of three chances at this trial. One final session remains.

Lykan read the text, and then panted slightly as he forced his mind to relax. He had gotten better, if only being slashed across the arm was better than being stabbed in the heart. He didn’t quite understand what the true point of this scenario was.

Final round begins. Use Chameleon Skin, or other technique to hide from an attacker. You must take out your opponent before they strike you.

Lykan didn’t know if this was the tutorials way of explaining things, but he did seem to get more and more explanation each time he failed. In a way this was nice, as he at least thought he had a chance to learn what he was doing wrong at this rate. Unfortunately for Lykan he didn’t know what a Chameleon Skin technique was, let alone what techniques were in general. His mind wondered if they were like spells used by magicians, though he never heard of a magician being able to cast invisibility. Mages needed to project their energy outside of their bodies, making the ability to cast an illusion spell must be more of a dome that surrounded the caster. The only problem with such spells is they were great for open terrain, but nearly impractical when going through a building or terrain with objects in the way as anything the Magician passed by would be caught up in the sphere of influence. It was rather hard not to see something was out of the ordinary when a corner of a desk, or a part of a tree suddenly went missing. Thus, the art of invisibility wasn’t something that most mages even dabbled in. But the methods of hiding used his current attacker were different.

You are not hiding.

You have been spotted.

This time Lykan looked and focused his senses at his attacker. He once again saw the blurring of the sky, but this time his eyes were able to make out the shape and size of his opponent. While he might not be able to hide, he could at least offer a token resistance.

You have spotted your opponent.

The distraction from the message floating in his mind almost cost him. Fortunately, Lykan had practiced under the most trying of conditions and a random message was not enough to fully remove his attention away from his opponent. When his opponent came at him, he easily side stepped the first strike. Then gave a quick Qi infused jab to the spine of his opponent. The strike caused his opponent to appear before him briefly before the scenario ended.

You have passed.

The message came, but not before revealing a monster of horror and legends. The monster that had appeared had long tentacles running down its face. Looking at the monster caused a slight shiver to run down his spine. The feeling of fear lasted for only a second before the being completely disappeared, but it had been enough. The beast was a Titan, one of the alleged monsters from legends who battled with the gods and were sealed away to the depths of the world.

The stories had all been myths, so old and forgotten that they were considered more myth than fact at this point. While everyone still believed and worshiped the gods, the Titans, the personification of absolute evil were something else entirely. Yet, Lykan had seen one, had attacked one. What did that mean for him? What did that make this place? Was this a prison that the gods created? Or was this something different?

Lykan wondered if he should go, but just as he thought that a golden symbol glowed at the center of the floor he was standing on. Seeing the golden symbol, a pulse filled Lykan, as he wondered if the path he taken up to this point was something from the gods, or had he always been tasked by the Titans to help release them upon the world.

Lykan’s fast mind had these thoughts and more in a second. Just as he was about to leave, to avoid the golden opportunity before him the messages once again flashed before his eyes.

Your Performance Rating: Poor.

Recommended Actions: Focus on fundamentals.

Would you like to go back to [Fundamentals] or [Continue Current Scenario]?

Seeing the two options before him Lykan first thought [Fundamentals] but nothing happened. After a second, he reached out his hand and was somewhat surprised to see that the floating messages were solid. He then manually selected [Fundamentals] and watched as the training environment around him changed.

Choice confirmed. Resetting training records to zero. You must first pass the basics before you are once again allowed to use a combat training scenario.

Lykan couldn’t help but wonder if he had somehow limited himself to what was available. He also wondered if choosing fundamentals was somehow akin to admitting defeat. However, he did not give that thought much concern as he needed to start from the bottom. He had no clue what Qi was, other than the fact that it could make your palms and hands covered in energy that could penetrate the thick hide of chamelovores and other attackers. Aside from that one minor aspect of Qi, he knew nothing of what it was or what it could do. No texts at the Academy had anything that even remotely detailed what Qi was. So Lykan was interested to see what he could gain from this training.

Assume the meditation pose.

Lykan read that and immediately sat in the same pose he would for the beginning phases of using his Meditation skill. At the later stages such a posture was unnecessary as the skill was almost always in constant use, but when he first got the skill, it had been invaluable with learning how to control and manipulate mana. He just hoped that Meditation would also be the same with Qi. As soon as he was in the correct position the training script continued.

Now breathe in Qi.

Lykan paused, trying to understand what the message meant. What did it mean to breathe in Qi?

Perhaps seeing his confusion or realizing that he was doing the task incorrectly a monster appeared. Seeing the monster randomly appear caused instant fear to spark in Lykan’s mind. The monster was another Titan, perhaps the same Titan. Jet black skin, multiple tentacles floating around, glowing red eyes. The only reason Lykan didn’t get up and attack was that the Titan was also in the same meditative pose. It was clear that this being was meant to be a guide of some kind. Knowing that, Lykan relaxed a little and watched the being before him.

While the being was monstrous to look at, it was surprisingly calm. Lykan also realized that not all of the tentacles were in fact meant for grabbing like a squid. A few were facing upwards and Lykan could see that these were like giant nostrils that were used to pull in air. His mind instantly made the correlation between the tentacles and the trunks of elephants, that is if the nostrils in the elephant’s trunk were split apart and able to grab air from different areas at the same time. So lost in his own musings of trying to understand the physiology of the creature before him that he almost missed the warning message.

Breathe in Qi.

Seeing the message, Lykan calmed his mind and did as he was instructed, he breathed in.

Breathe in Qi.

The message flashed again, this time seeming a bit more insistent. Lykan looked at the trainer and saw that if he looked closely, he could see a few charged particles of energy float from the air and into it.

Pausing for a second Lykan focused and breathed. Then breathed. Each breath he knew he wasn’t doing what was needed, but he could feel something. He was close, he knew, but he couldn’t quite place what he was doing wrong.

After an hour Lykan grew hungry and decided to take a quick break. He pulled out a few dried rations from his pocket. As soon as the food appeared the trainer’s eyes glowed red. Suddenly Lykan felt a chill run down his spine. Then a bolt of red energy fired from the eyes causing the morsel of food Lykan held in his hands to burn away almost immediately. After that he was met with a message.

No food in the training chamber. Candidate will either survive off Qi or die of starvation.

With that warning the eyes of the monster before him glowed red as if daring Lykan to produce more food. Lykan held up his now empty hands in a placating gesture. After a few seconds the glowing red eyes relaxed their focus, allowing Lykan to let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding.

Phew.

Lykan then focused on the process at hand. Idly he wondered if he could leave, but soon thought against such an act. Leaving now would only mean exposing his back to those glowing red eyes, and he didn’t doubt for a second that this trainer would attack him from behind. Realizing he had but one way to go, forward, he focused back on the lesson at hand.

Lykan breathed and breathed.

And breathed.

Finally, after over a thousand failed breaths, something happened. He felt a warm spark fill his body. Instantly the fatigue and hunger he had been feeling went away. The sensation wasn’t much, and he knew it wouldn’t last, but for that one second, he felt satiated. Almost in recognition of his accomplishment the Titan before him nodded in approval.

Breaths completed 1 of 100.

Seeing the message Lykan let out sigh realizing he had to compete the same feat 100 times.

Breaths completed 0 of 100.

Then a sigh of anguish filled him as he realized he needed to complete the task not just 100 times, but 100 times in a row. Realizing the task before him, Lykan focused and continued his work. After the first breath, he at least knew what he was looking for. It took five more tries before he managed to recreate his first success. Then three tries after that. Finally, he managed to get two back to back before the counter reset. This was going to be a long and painful process.

Fortunately for Lykan he had no obligations, no places to be, and no one looking for him. His father was missing, and there were no signs of where he had gone off to. He didn’t need to worry about Octavia as he clearly misjudged that whole situation. Nayali was free of him, and free to choose her own path in life. Part of his mind wandered as he began to settle into a rhythm of breathing in life sustaining Qi.

He realized that for the first time he had nothing but time before him. He was an immortal, and if what he was understanding about this training, Qi could be used to sustain him almost indefinitely. Then before he realized what had happened, the master before him bowed to him. Lykan was confused for a second, before he read the message before him.

Meditation Trial Complete. Breaths completed 100 of 100.

Seeing the message caused a wave of excitement to fill Lykan as he smiled slightly at his accomplishment. Just when he was about to get excited the next task began.

Next Trial Beginning. Walking and Breathing.

Breaths completed 0 of 1,000.

Seeing the message Lykan let loose a groan, as he realized the task before him was not only harder but would require ten times as many breaths in a row to complete. Still Lykan was resilient if anything and he rose to his feet, before his master’s eyes glowed their menacing red color.