The morning couldn't arrive soon enough after my less than successful pestering mission, popping out of bed before sunrise. My body felt fully rejuvenated, the refilled resource pools reflecting my vapidly successful recovery process overnight. Still, a yearning to Flow Meditate came over me before exiting my cozy little temporary home. Sitting down in the center of the room, I meditated for a few hours feeling like I still had some demons to resolve.
The loudest and first on my to-fix list being pressure. For some reason the stronger I've gotten, the more weight I've piled onto my own shoulders internally. It's not to say there wasn't an influx in responsibility to be expected, being the top warrior in my faction on a conquest for continental control. Still, I'd added more onto my plate with my own hunger to surpass anyone and everyone, often clouding my judgment.
At the end of the day, my true enemy was not my progress, nor was it my mediocre adversaries that'd nearly killed me yesterday. It was just feelings, and unchecked petty ones at that. Fighting, well, martial arts at least wasn't ever really about being better than anyone before the integration. It was to better oneself first and foremost, and ushered me into my journey to chase the best version of myself. Regardless of the injection of God's and immeasurable potential for power into our world, I saw little reason for my roots to change now.
In retrospect, I'd done exactly that for the entirety of my last fight. My idea was to just all out blitz, something not associated with water style fighting. It might feel that way on the other side at times, but it was never actually all or nothing flurries like the bullshit I'd pulled yesterday. All concepts of stamina or mana conservation were tossed to the wind, replaced with saying 'fuck it' and spamming out Flow or Lightning skills. While this might actually work for somebody out there, this style wasn't mine. I'd always thrived in a state of balance, and nothing less.
The dimly lit bedroom I sat crossed legged in the center of melted away around me. For just a split second, I was fully residing within a tangible space within myself. The very 'demons' I sought to face manifested before me, dark shadowy figures with wriggling red light for eyes shooting across my thoughts in blasts of red and blue unstable energy. Feelings of fear, inadequacy, and helplessness swirled through the air, a rather sour taste invading my pallet. The hovering shades suddenly shot away, whisked by a gust of wind blowing at my back.
Inversely to my own self loathing creations that followed me, the rest of this internal little realm was absolutely gorgeous. The soft drizzling of a running pond paired with the soft chirps of morning birds echoed a warm ambient song. A stream connected to the peaceful pond ran along a trench of sands. The bending stream ran 20 yards down the beach leading into the crashing waves. The cool air was potent with water mana, hints of lightning occasionally wafting from the streaking shadow figures.
For whatever reason, I felt totally comfortable disregarding the manifestations of my, well, baggage. my surroundings were far too wondrous for me to bother caring. My arms spread wide, soaking in the euphoric energies circulating this placid paradise I'd stumbled upon.
Unfortunately, a pounding at my door ripped me violently from internal serenity. Taking a deep breath and processing what I'd seen, I clamored to my feet heading to meet my company. It was odd for someone to be visiting so early, considering how early I woke up today.
Though peering outside and finding sun hanging high gave me pause. Apparently my meditation accelerated my sense of time, blowing through several hours just sitting on the floor. Another set of knocks snapped me free from my confused state as I finally answered the door. None other than Cassi stood on the other side, her fist knocking at air before she noticed I opened the door.
"Hey slugger. I got a favor to ask." She said through a smirk. Seeing an immediate opportunity to repay a savior of mine from yesterday, I opened my door wider and stepped aside allowing her in.
She sat down on the chair by my small dining table, beside the fireplace that sat a few feet from my bed. Probably a massive fire hazard now come to think of it. Cassi quickly explained her visit.
"Okay so, I'm just going to skip to the end here. Korbin's been training me nonstop and, he mentioned teaching you Flow while you developed your fighting style." Cassi began, folding her hands together as she leaned forward in the chair. I was surprised to hear he was so liberal with that information, however Cassi also proved to be rather vital to our cause already.
"Yeah, he taught me most of what I know, even now. Why?" I asked.
"Well, my affinity is water, like you. Only issue is, I cannot figure this 'Flow' shit out for the life of me. Is there any way you could come to my training session and give me some pointers?" She asked, her hands now in a pleading position as she smiled hopefully.
"You know, before all this, Korbin warned me to be careful who I taught Flow to. But, there's a lot to be said from your style when under duress and, who better to teach than your allies…sure, I'll come to your training." I said, her face lighting up with excitement before she reeled it in, clearing her throat.
"Thanks, and uh, it starts in a couple minutes so, if you wanted to meet me there like whenever, I really appreciate it." She said, rushing out of my room without another word.
"Of course, I'll be there in a few." I said to my open door, smiling as I shook my head. It would do me wonders watching the fundamentals being taught again anyhow, and I was excited to revisit them.
After a quick stretching session to loosen up my tight muscles, I headed toward the south end of the merchants Pylon, where Korbin had installed an upgraded training facility. They had a measly one here before, however it was mainly dirt and empty weapon racks. Now, it was expanded, with sectioned arenas and a variety of weapons to train with.
Cassi was in the first arena, Korbin next to her barking corrections while she practiced her punching form on a wooden dummy. Heading up the short staircase leading to the thick glass arena door, Korbin was the first to spot me.
"Ah, Tom! What a pleasant surprise to see you up so early?" Korbin teased, Cassi turning from her training to greet me.
"Oh, hey Tom!" Cassi said, innocently. As if she hadn't just asked me to come give her pointers. Clever, that lady.
"Hi Cass" I waved, before walking toward Korbin, who instructed her to resume her slow form punching.
"Yeah I woke up early and meditated. Figured I'd get my blood moving here after some much needed self reflection. But, when I saw you guys training, I figured I'd come see where Cassi's at, considering we're fighting armies together now." I said to Korbin. His eyes narrowed before darting to Cassi, then back at me.
"Yeah, might as well. You're both water nerds anyways." Korbin said with a shrug.
Korbin gave me a brief rundown on her training and…well, it was pretty brief. She had issues controlling her Flow, or even feeling it for that matter. At first glance her form was okay, however the Flow traveling from her foot up to her hand was inconsistent, indicating a lack of awareness for her own timing. That shit bugs me every time I try to land hits at my own timing, but it's next to impossible to do anything with absolutely perfect Flow anyway.
"Cassi, when you're twisting that back foot, make sure you're letting that energy carry with your forward Flow." I advised.
"I am? It twists when I'm going forward?" She argued back, pissing me off initially. My mind was too focused on helping my allies defend themselves in the future now to let my ego affect my work here though.
"Yes, yes it is, but you're loading up your arm instead of using the energy from your twist. Watch, go even slower." I instructed, walking over for a better view of her mechanics. Korbin didn't seem to mind, though it's typically rather frustrating training Flow to beginners. It's a foreign concept not taught most anywhere the average person frequents, it's wasn't anyone's fault. All the more reason to let anyone qualified step in and help.
Cassi's body practically moved in slow motion punching with her rear hand. Her foot was rotating a tad too early, the Flow dying in her chest before she could use it for a punch.
"You see that? It's rotating way too fast, making your upper body do all the heavy lifting on your punch. Don't do that. Be patient, you don't need to load up your power to create power. It's already there." I said, earning a confused look from her.
"Less is more with water, I promise. Just try." I pleaded, stepping back next to Korbin to give her space to work. She shrugged, slowly practicing her punch trying to time her Flow better. Within a mere 5 slow punches the Flow transferred much more consistently, though Cassi's frustrated grunts grew louder with every mistake made.
"Okay, now that you got that feeling, focus on doing that faster for like three good hits." I said, feeling like she was ready enough to feel the difference form could bring. She nodded, and sped up her swaying stance. Cassi's fist blasted into the dummy faster than I'd ever seen her punch, cracking its wooden head under the force of her strike. The dummy's head quickly regenerated back. Cassi stood staring at the dummy, wearing a confused smile on her face.
We continued working on shoring up her Flow on basic strikes for the next 20 or so minutes. Her progress wasn't rapid, as she struggled to feel what she was trying to accomplish. I remembered that sensation fondly, as it was my source of drive to accomplish learning Flow myself. The first time I really controlled my Flow made all the feelings of embarrassment for fucking up in training flip on their head entirely.
After the basics of striking, Korbin had me attack her recklessly while she solely played defense. The beauty with defense and water is, it's all counter striking. The best defense is countering as far as I'm concerned, nothing better than punishing someone for trying to hurt you in the first place.
We started slow, moving at around 5%. Her reactions were keen, allowing for good timing on blocking normal strikes. It's when feigns got mixed in, along with some slow non-mana infused Water Steps to change angle did she begin to struggle. She overcommitted on most strikes, not reading my movements well enough to discern real strikes from illusionary ones.
I did my best to remain at a steady pace, though Cassi quickly began to catch on to my fakes. She learned keeping her guard within a reasonable distance from her face, rather than shooting forward to meet every sign of attack was the wiser approach. Thank fuck she did too, there were far too many times I'd almost hooked the shit out of her with a counter punch of my own. In fairness, it was muscle memory at this point due to my training with Korbin.
We continued sparring for another 10 minutes, the intensity slowly ramping up with every exchange. Cassi's agility was much lower than mine judging on her fastest strikes, so I stayed just at her pace for learnings sake. She made some decent progress, interrupting jabs not letting me use too many fakes to create ann opening between her guard. She couldn't check kicks very well for someone who was supposedly trained but, that will come. Korbin was always ruthless with teaching leg kick defense, meaning you either blocked it or suffered what happens when you didn't without mercy. What impressed me the most about Cassi was her Flows potency improving once she was more mindful of it, even if she couldn't feel it out quite yet.
"Alright, I'm getting restless. Tom, tag out." Korbin said, electing to train his student personally. Of course I'd never refuse, she wasn't my pupil after all. Cassi's smile dropped seeing me depart, giving hint to Korbin's unforgiving teaching methods not changing so much.
The next hour was brutal. Korbin decided she didn't need a warm up having already sparred me, and matched her maximum speed immediately. Every attack of hers ended up either punching air, or stuck in a wrist lock leading into a brutal sweep for the first 15 minutes.
"Stop leaning so far forward Cass, you're begging to get swept out there!" I yelled, tired of seeing her eat shit. She obliged, finally finding herself throwing more than twice before being violently tossed prone. Korbin decided to adjust as well, throwing strikes exclusively with his legs.
Her calves and thighs were decently ate up from my few leg kicks throughout our spar, however I didn't hit the Flow points that practically turn a leg off too many times, hoping she'd get more total reps that way. Korbin however, punished her bad leg defense without hesitation.
"We practiced checks-" pop "-for how long this week?" Korbin asked, landing a brutal kick to Cassi's shin, causing her to wobble trying to put pressure on it.
Been there.
Cassi's knee finally started finding purchase on Korbin's incoming shin as she timed her checks better. After 4 successful leg kick defenses, Korbin worked his way up to body kicks. Her angle's were too wide at times as she shuffled to the side trying to avoid his kicks. The issue wasn't dodging his kick, but her face would land right next to Korbin's fist when she dashed away too far. With a stomp and a rotation of his hips, Korbin slammed his fist into her jaw with hook after hook.
It wasn't until the very end of her training did she begin to hold her own, causing Korbin to speed up past her maximum agility at times to maintain control over the Flow of battle. Cassi's footwork wasn't as erratic, her balance remaining sound during her counter combos and retreats. Her defense up close wasn't great, but her vision to find counters was improving by the minute, nearly landing an uppercut on Korbin at one point.
His head slipped to the side just in time while simultaneously sliding his foot behind her back foot. His hand pushed into her shoulder while swinging his leg back, sending Cassi head first into the training grounds. She popped up immediately, only to drop to a knee in exhaustion before they could engage in melee again. Korbin smiled, straightening his posture.
"I'd say that's quite enough for today. I still need you fresh enough to fight in case we have uninvited guests tonight." Korbin said, crossing his arms. Cassi was sucking air trying to gather herself, sweat beading from her face as she answered.
"H-…how the hell are you n-not…tired?" Cassi asked between heavy breaths.
"Oh man, that's a whole other lesson Cassi." I said, having remembered the training it took to stretch my fighters' stamina using Flow.
"Well…I got time. Unless you're too good for little ole me?" Cassi teased, sitting up from the floor with her hands on her head, still catching her breath.
"Alright, fine. But it involves you standing up again." I shot back, pushing her over with my knee as I walked by. She forced herself up, standing tall albeit shakily.
"So the biggest issue you're running into is you're mismanaging your Flow. Your attacks looked pretty solid at the end. However, you threw each one without considering if it was the right time or strike. Nor did you have an exit strategy in case you got countered yourself. You have to pace yourself if you're to utilize a Water style and don't overextend, it knocks you out of Flow." I instructed fervently, the memories of brutal cardio days of old talking through me.
"But, if you can use your Flow, why moderate it? Shouldn't it curve tiredness if it's optimizing all your movements?" She asked, having rather expertly concluded that. She wasn't far off.
"True, it delays the sensation of tiredness. However, temporarily breaking through your limits doesn't change them. Just puts them off for as long as you can manage staying in Flow, which only grows more challenging as your body tires." I answered, Cassi's eyes drifted away as she considered my words. It took a few seconds before she asked another even more advanced question.
"So, if not being wasteful in my motions and endurance helps me manage Flow better, couldn't the same be said about 'budgeting' skills and spells in regards to my mana pool?" She asked.
"Huh…you know I'd spent so much time learning budgeting from Korbin to get my money right, yet I never made that correlation. You're right though, that makes sense." I answered, rubbing my chin. Fuckin' of course, I'd been wasting my mana by not staying at my own Flow of battle, escaping my counter-attacking fluid ways in pursuit of quick kills. It was greedy, prideful, and clearly had gotten sloppy. Yet I hadn't even broken a sweat sparring with Cassi today, focusing on the basics of water myself in order to teach it.
"Really? What'd you end up doing to get your bank account out the gutter then?" Cassi asked, nefarity in her tone.
"Stock market. Korbin ended up showing me the ropes with that too, and I made good decisions thereafter. It was honestly going pretty damn smoothly before the tournament." I said, smiling as I reminisced. A jabbing pain pierced into my heart internally longing for my dearest peanut butter and honey sandwiches I'd snack on while doing research.
"No shit? My uncle made his living by trading, set me up decently too once my dad got sick. The Tutorial seemed to cure him almost immediately. But the spiders…" Cassi's words trailed off, as did her gaze again. After a Meloncholy stare, her shoulders began bouncing, as she tried physically fighting the tears welling in her eyes.
Lonni's going to kill me.
Not willing to see my friend in shambles like this, I hugged her, knowing words would do little. Loss isn't easy, no two ways about it. Especially when you're given the pour to fight for it, and fail. Regardless of the context, that never truly goes away. Remembering my first day of Tutorial, I moved Cassi back from our embrace, keeping her arms in my hands.
"Look, truthfully I can't say anything that could make you not feel like shit about that. Losing people's hard. But based on how much love you clearly have for them, I can't imagine they'd want you to grieve too much. It's early, and you should process it, but don't let it consume you." I advised, having learned that lesson yesterday.
"It was my fault though, Tom. I-…" Cassi suddenly turned away, clearing her throat and wiping her face.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to just trauma dump like this." She said, her voice more sturdy than just a few seconds before.
"Nah, don't do that. That's stupid." I said, my patience for avoidance being surprisingly short.
"W-what?" She asked, looking confused.
"You said it was your fault, and dropped it immediately. You're avoiding, instead of countering it." I said, her face now beginning to look a bit insulted. Not the reaction I'd hoped.
"Look…my first day out here, I made a collection of terrible fucking decisions. I chose our Pylon only thinking about myself seeing an ocean surrounded by more Pylons. All I saw was opportunities for myself to get stronger. Not once did I consider me and Korbin were the only two who were in the tournament of our group." I said, not exactly thrilled to relive this out loud again.
"Then, when we got there and had to defend our first wave of rats, I left my post to make a move on the boss Rat who was reviving the others. Korbin called for me to help him on his side of our Pylon, which wasn't much else except sand at the time." I continued, Cassi listening intently.
"Well, my partner I was assigned died first after trying to use my phoned in advice from across the battle field. Then, I hesitated to help Korbin, getting another flank wiped out along with Korbin's group. Fuck, and the kids…" I'd reached about as far as I could without flaring with rage at my own gross negligence costing so many lives that didn't deserve it. That could still be here now, it I wasn't a fucking child about power since day one. Cassi's sympathetic eyes freed me from my memories. Remember the reason for sharing, I continued.
"We may not always be strong enough to save those we care about, but the least we could do is be smart enough to know how. That's why we train, to learn from our failures before they matter. Not to mourn our shortcomings, nor to forget. Just, learn from it." I said, after composing myself. Cassi's brow furrowed as drifted deep in though considering my words, nodding passively. I slapped her shoulder twic and got up to leave, noticing Korbin was nowhere to be found. No doubt he bailed before the waterworks, knowing how little he cares for crying.
"Hey uh, Tom? You actually mind training a little longer? Those grabs were killing me out there, I could use some pointers?" Cassi asked, stretching her muscles. Seeing the sun hanging high assured it wasn't quite late enough for an ambush to be possible, so why not? Cassi and I began running through a few feigns I've found help avoid getting snatched so quickly.
…
After another 2 hours of training, Cassi looked in surprisingly good condition. We hadn't gone nearly as hard the last portion, focusing more on technique and making reads than beating one another. However that can become mentally taxing in its own respect, given how much attention to detail is applied. Yet, she seemed plenty willing to continue, only relenting at the mention of sundown.
Her shift for guard duty with a few other soldiers started in a few hours, so we both agreed to get some rest at our respective homes. I spent most of my walk back trying to cement the lesson Cassi had inadvertently helped me learn today; control.
It wasn't anything new, rather a key facet I'd neglected over time. The power I'd accrued in such a short amount of time removed the necessity for being terribly mindful in melee. I had little trouble bypassing defenses with my speed, at a mana cost that was at least manageable. When faced with far more total opponents however, the bullshit 'run and gun' style I'd ran with fell apart. Simply because I'm not built to fight like that for an extended time, instead have moments of bursts to finishing fights swiftly when the times rights.
There was nothing to gain from straying so far from my style other than an early grave. They reflect oneself at the end of the day. Meaning I'd actively been straying from core traits that essentially define me for the sake of pride and arrogance. I'd lost hold on humility at the hands of consistent victory against lesser opponents. That simply cannot happen if I want to live past the Tutorial, much less possibly become a god.
I'd barely reached the door to my room shuffling through my thoughts when a horn echoed loudly throughout the camp. I'd never heard it, yet I had a funny feeling I knew what it was signaling. Sprinting to the front gate, Korbin stood in back of our soldiers who were all arranged in front of the settlement entrance. Steve was beside the gate wall, still all coiled up snuggly in his sleeping spot. The sounds of men's screams and explosions echoed from over the wall. Lonni was stood in front of Korbin, and was the first I talked to seeing Korbin's eyes completely whited over.
"Lonni, what the fuck is going on with Korbin?" I asked, worried for my friend who looked utterly possessed standing completely still.
"He's controlling the turrets outside the walls right now. Once he dwindles their numbers, we're pushing out in hopes for another capture." Lonni informed me, sounding cool as a cucumber.
"Ah, so that's the other guy's screams of pain I'm hearing?" I asked.
"Oh yeah. None of our guys are even out there yet. We'll be up soon." Lonni replied with a smirk. Soon the earth shaking booms subsided, Korbin snapping out of his trance in concert. Rubbing his, he gave Lonni a nod before drinking from a curved blue bottle. Lonni bellowed a booming "charge" as the gates swung open. Steve quickly slithered around to me, scooping me up as we serpentined through our soldiers headed toward the battlefield.
Outside the wall however, lay 7 dead enemy soldiers, with 4 more running south. Steve bolted up to one, biting down on his head as I jumped off in pursuit of another. The soldier was way slower than me, allowing me to run lighter on my feet to avoid spooking him. My foot clipped his ankle, sending him tumbling over his own feet mid-stride. Steve was chomping into the third soldier fleeing when a few of our own warriors caught up.
Putting them in charge of the new hostage lying prone under my foot, I stepped off to chase after the final fleeing soldier. Korbin's hand touched my shoulder before I could sprint after them.
"No, let him go. The more people there that know what's coming, the better." He said, wearing a devious smirk. I didn't care to argue, seeing as I was looking forward to a good night's rest after the long training day. Heading back into the settlement, our soldiers collected their slain foes weapons and before heading to their quarters. Before I could head for my temporary home however, Korbin called me back over.
"Hey, before you go, I need you for one more favor tonight." He said in a high pitched pleading voice. Sighing, I accepted the request.
"Sure, what do you need?"
"Simple, you're my bad cop."