Chapter 168

Lykan

Attempted Deception

Lykan had been immersed with Brenna’s training. As always, she was able to take the lesson given to her and internalize it in a way that was all together frightening. Part of the fright came from the fact that earth was so foreign. In many ways earth made no sense, to motions of the ground were many and varied. The ground would rumble and then Brenna would produce deadly spikes.

While there was a pattern, the effects were deadly. This was not the way of air; air was speed and precision. Wind could if wielding the right weapon pierce even the toughest of materials. Wind could even do incredible things like have a piece of straw perfectly pierce a plank of wood. In all cases, wind required a weapon, wind was the force multiplier to a weapon.

With earth, there was no need for a weapon. The ground itself could and often would be the weapon.

Lykan watched as the ground rumbled, tensed, and bowed during Brenna’s lessons.

During these times Lykan took his time to understand the movements that were happening. Balancing his weight on the tip of one big toe, Lykan focused on the movements of the ground. He felt the tremors and the way the earth moved. For every action, there were thousands and millions of micro-reactions that all cascaded, rebounded, and reverberated around.

There was a pattern to the movement, one so formulaic that it was almost missed. But the formula was there, the precision and intensity were all there.

Over time, Lykan began seeing the patterns. He focused not just on where Brenna’s qi moved, but how it moved. In time he was able to anticipate the formation of rock spikes and pillars.

With the slightest of movements, he would change the angle of his free foot and plant it, so he was resting on the newly formed rock spike. Rather than getting impaled, he was suspended. Rather than getting knocked back, he moved with the pillars.

Once he was in these new positions he waited, until he was ultimately released and dropped.

Over and over, she practiced and over and over Lykan used this time to not just understand the ways of earth, but to help gain better insights into his own understanding of air.

He learned that the way Brenna moved qi around was not different from creating natural lay lines. Lay lines that could be called upon, tightened, or pulsed in a way that would generate vibrations. The thicker the lay lines the more power she had, but the less control she was able to exert. There was a fine balance to the skills. In time it was clear that with practice and dedication Brenna would be able to do both, exert more power and skill. But until she had more time to practice, she would be stuck with just one or the other.

This was a good thing to note, and one thing that Lykan would be sure to keep in mind when they moved on from here. The fact that lines were being used at all showed, just how formulaic the element of earth truly was.

Now this understanding was not meant to be a slight against earth wielders, nor the element itself. Instead, it was just a deeper understanding of the element and how it was the most structured of the four main elements.

By contrast Air was the most unstructured. Again, this gave more fluidity to the movements and rapid changing of directions and patterns. That fluidity of movement came at a cost of direct power and force. Earth itself was the weapon, the force, and the movement. Air by contrast was the conduit that one could move, one could strike, and one could evade. These were different but necessary distinctions to be made.

Lykan also used this time to help harness the ideals of what he was mentally calling the no-form technique. The form where he became like the wind and let the earth or other structured energies pass right through him. He was not fully becoming unsubstantial, not yet at least. Instead, what he was doing was allowing his body to bend and mold around the space that was given to him.

While moving items like rock spikes were rocketing out from the ground, they were created by intense formations of qi. This buildup of qi density also created a distinct lack of qi density around the structure that was created. It is in these qi depleted areas that Lykan felt his body naturally drawn to. He felt his body go formless, which was just a fancy way of saying he let his body react naturally to flow around a strike.

So in tune with the lesson was he, that he almost missed the moment the Titan trainer’s silhouette changed.

Almost.

The second it changed, Lykan struck out at the silhouette, only to have the waves and projected lights go blurry for a moment.

“What?” Brenna asked. Not even doubting Lykan. Instead, she pulled out her battle axe and wielded it like she was ready for a fight.

At her complete faith in him, Lykan couldn’t help but feel inwardly blessed. He didn’t need to explain himself, nor explain what he was seeing. His reactions were enough to cause her to drop everything and be ready for combat.

Part of this was likely because on some instinctive level she had to have also felt the sudden shift in posture of the Titan trainer. The way the Titan trainer’s eyes suddenly became alive with recognition and intelligence.

The two stood on separate sides of the silhouette, watching it, evaluating it.

They moved to the sides that would make it difficult, if not impossible for the Titan to counter both of their combined attacks.

Still, something was off.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The titan began clapping in a rhythmic motion that was akin to giving praise. The gesture seemed odd and foreign to the alien from the stars.

“Very impressive.” The Titan slurped out in their odd alien language.

“What did they…” Brenna began but stopped as Lykan held up a calming hand.

“They can speak to us. My guess is they are likely in the core room, or another control room that would have access here.” Lykan said in dwarven, hoping that it would be a language that this Titan wouldn’t be able to understand.

On a whim, Lykan tried to see how educated this creature was.

“Can you understand me?” Lykan asked in the common language of men.

“Oh, come now. You know our tongue.” The Titan continued speaking in their odd alien throat language.

“That still doesn’t change the question. Can you understand me?” Lykan insisted.

At that, the Titan sagged her shoulders. The fact that this was a female was quickly forming in his mind. There seemed to be subtle differences in the body shape, the way her face tentacles were slightly more elegant, the tone of her voice. While it was still a weird tonal sound, this one was at a slightly higher octave than the presumably male instructor he had been listening to for the better part of a month at this point.

With that revelation of time, Lykan realized it was little wonder how they managed to awaken this creature. They had been training in its lair for almost a full month. Surely there would be some type of alarms set up. In fact, Lykan figured the only reason they had not run into this situation before, was that the odds of finding an intact training room and a non-injured titan were slim. The fact that this one awoke so easily and seemed to have very few, if any, wounds meant she was likely a strong and capable fighter. That or one who could flee easily, but if Lykan had to guess, he would put his finger more on the latter, than the former.

Finally, after a few seconds of deliberation, the Titan answered truthfully.

“I can understand you, but to a limited degree. If we wish to parlay terms, then we will need to use my language.” The titan answered, again in her own language.

Brenna just cocked her head to the side. “She wants to parlay terms.” Lykan answered her unspoken question again in Dwarven.

“What language is that?” The Titan asked, a note of interest in her tone.

“That is the language of the Dwarves.” Lykan answered, making sure to speak in the Titan language.

For now, he had a plan, he would play the mediator of this conversation, he would speak to the Titan in her language, and only relay important parts to Brenna in the Dwarven tongue. Though he planned on speaking as rarely as possible to Brenna. Lykan realized there were many different recording and projecting tools within the training room. The fact that his words could be recorded and processed for possible meanings was almost a given.

The fact that she could understand his words in Common, after a time, implied such a translation property. It wasn’t the instantaneous type of translation that Lykan had from his Gods given skills, but it was still powerful all the same.

Silence.

Both sides were silent as they waited for something of an understanding to happen. Neither side wishing to tip their hands. Finally, as time ticked by, it was Brenna who came up with an idea. One that she shared in Common so both could understand her.

“It seems that there is a want to avoid conflict. Perhaps we can use this time to learn about each other. There was also talk of a parlay? That implies some type of peaceful resolution. What if we began by exchanging questions for answers?” Brenna asked, her role as peacekeeper clearly evident from her tone. While she might not be able to understand the language being spoken, she could read Lykan rather well. She planned on using that, and her innate understanding of body language to help her identify when she thought the Titan was either being misleading, purposefully vague, or lying outright.

Since neither side seemed to disagree with Brenna. She continued. “Mrs. Titan, how about you state your name, and then begin with a question that you most surely want to have answered.”

Silence.

The red eyes of the monster flashed for a second. For a second they took on the duller shade that the instructor had. Lykan noticed this, then almost immediately noted the moment she was back. Her eyes were brighter, and her focus was more intent. That was also the moment she chose to reply.

“Yes, those seem like agreeable terms.” The Titan began, again only speaking in her native alien tongue. The whole moment, though brief, showed Lykan two things. First she wasn’t fluent in Common at all. Second, when she listened to a recording, or had her systems translate Brenna’s words, she would have to put up a still image of herself. These were all data points that Lykan began mentally noting, as he began to listen to the alien’s story. “I am Pentra La’H Twol, a scientist. My question to you is, who taught you all to cultivate the elements?”

Lykan chose this time to translate the response and question to Brenna. Before he first stated what his response to the scientist would be, then he said it.

“I am Lykan Vov’Vita, and this is my partner, Brenna. We are both self-taught in the ways of cultivation. Though technically I taught myself, then I passed on my initial training methods to Brenna, who could be considered my disciple at this point.” Lykan said.

Then he paused his mind, as he prepared to phrase this next question in such a way that it would not cause any more hostilities or tension than already existed in the room.

“My first question, do you intend to do us harm once we leave this room?” Lykan asked.

At that question, the figure froze for a second. A momentary pause. One so faint that it could almost be considered a slight distortion of the field being used to present the image of the Titan. But it was one that both Lykan and Brenna picked up on immediately.

The motion was so subtle that the Titan likely hadn’t realized they made the momentary hesitation, even while answering.

“No, at least I hoped not. My goal for meeting you in this way was so we could end this amicably.”

Lykan, stoic as ever made no signs of his true feelings. Instead, he let the alien creature continue their deception. “What is it that you intend to do?” The titan who called herself Pentra La’H Twol asked.

With that Lykan just gave a slight smile as he answered. “I intend to treat you as you yourself would treat us.”

Lykan’s smile, of course, never fully met his eyes. Still, he continued the conversation, trying to draw out bits and pieces of information that he could gleam. Trusting more in what was not being said, than what was being stated. All the while he too hoped he could make his own true intentions remain hidden, for now.