Chapter 232: First Training Session [2]
Chapter 232: Chapter 232: First Training Session [2]
Chapter 232 – First Training Session [2]
"Let’s begin."
Mallory’s voice echoed sharply inside the head of Cassius, who found himself unbelievably helpless on the floor, all his power sealed away.
Dazed, he sloppily raised his hand and clenched it into a fist.
It was so weak, so slow, so unimpressive that it was maddening.
Even his thought process wasn’t as fast as before, making him linger on a single thought far longer than necessary.
All these sensations numbing his whole body gave Cassius a jarring feeling, making him instinctively try to return to his normal state.
However...
"Your first training will be done without a single one of your powers, little bastard." Mallory said, crouching down in front of him, grinning devilishly. "Before we start working on any of your numerous abilities..."
She lifted her right hand, slapping his left cheek repeatedly without much strength, yet enough to make Cassius wince.
"...we first need to make sure you understand and use your body to its absolute best."
"What... what’s the point of that?" Cassius croaked after a long silence, his throat strangely dry.
"Your body is the vessel that holds all your power. Did you see Emrys Stormblessed?" She said. "The only reason he lost to you was that his body was too weak to bear his full power. You know that, right? He was about to do something rather unbelievable."
Cassius simply nodded. He knew Emrys had more than one Blessing. The fact that he didn’t use the others didn’t mean he was being merciful.
He simply couldn’t, without killing himself.
"Now you don’t want that happening to you, do you?" Mallory continued, after making sure he grasped her point. "Especially since you’ve gained too much power in a short amount of time."
She paused, then continued...
"Your body needs time to adapt to your powers. And I need you to have a mastery of your body like no other. Only then will I allow you to use your power."
"Wait? You mean—?"
"Yes." Mallory’s eyes curved with anticipation. "You’ll stay in this state even outside of training. Don’t worry, the runes will deactivate on their own if you’re in danger."
Cassius gasped in horror.
"You see, I’ve learned something fundamental in my years as Dean."
’And as a master, long ago.’ She added inwardly.
"Learned what?"
"That if you want to learn something new, and you’re desperate to make it happen quickly," she said, "then you need to build it into your daily routine. That’s what you’ll go through from now on. And to add a little touch..."
She pressed her hand to his chest — Cassius, helpless, could only watch — and created another rune.
Cassius observed in hidden awe and fear. But the awe was stronger, because he couldn’t help wondering how his master was able to inscribe runes so easily onto anything.
But that thought was soon snuffed out when Mallory stood and made him rise with her.
He swayed a little, his head spinning, making him dizzy. But he got over it quickly, and noticed he was facing the huge, strange mountain.
"You see the mountain?" Mallory whispered behind him, pointing at it with her long, silver-nailed finger. "Run, walk, or crawl. I don’t care. But I want you to reach the mountain and climb to the very top with nothing but your physical power. Once you’ve done it, it’ll mean you’ve achieved enough mastery and control over your body. Then we can move to the next stage of your training. However..."
Next, his master pointed at the ground leading toward the mountain.
"...I’ve placed traps all over the path to it. You’d be wise to open every one of your senses to avoid getting badly hurt. And to finish, watch your steps."
"My... steps?"
"Yes, your steps." She nodded. "Every one of your steps must be of equal strength. Otherwise the rune I just placed on you will activate, and your body will grow heavier each time you do it wrong."
Cassius was genuinely speechless.
Not only was his power sealed away, his whole body and mind weakened, now he had to pay attention to the traps along the path and to his own steps?
’How can I do this? My steps... my steps have to be of equal strength?’
It was easier said than done. Cassius had never paid attention to the strength he used while walking. But he doubted each step was equal.
He hadn’t even started yet, and he could already envision how hellish this training would be.
Yet strangely, once the initial shock dissipated, Cassius found himself oddly excited.
He’d always trained alone all this time, barely getting any help from the Twins. Now this was the training he’d always wanted.
Training that would actually teach him something meaningful.
"Now, with your Innate," his master spoke again, her voice eager to witness his prowess, "show me what you can achieve with it. Show me, little bastard, how a snake adapts."
Cassius smiled nervously, took a deep breath, then exhaled loudly.
He gathered himself and stepped a bit ahead of his master, looking at the faraway mountain, its peak hidden within clouds.
He needed to reach... that top?
His smile widened.
"Will you be fine, master?" he asked, still looking at the mountain. "You’ve sealed my power, and I’m about to do something that’s evidently going to hurt."
"Again, we’re not the same." Mallory said. "The level of power that can restrict you is not equivalent to mine. Just like you, the runes I made are trying to suppress my power. But they can’t, because they’re too weak."
She smiled, pleased to have found a subtle loophole in their Fate Link.
"So I feel the same thing you do, but my reaction differs from yours. Though this has obvious limits." She whispered. "For example, whenever I have the intention to kill you, I can feel that I’ll die at the same time. So the Fate Link deliberately allows loopholes in many aspects...except the one related to death."
Mallory hadn’t sat idle after being linked with Cassius. She had looked into it and conducted some experiments to understand the Fate Link’s limits.
Now she was sure that whoever created it knew what they were doing.
The fact that she could find a workaround for anything but death made it seem far too deliberate.
But it no longer mattered to her.
Cassius had become far more interesting in her eyes, and she was curious. Curious about what he could achieve if she trained him with everything she had.
’Who knows?’ she laughed internally, without much hope. ’Maybe I’ll finally find someone able to inherit my Legacy? Last Dragon and Last Born... oh... I smell that damn Fate again.’
"I see." Cassius nodded. "That’s good, then. I didn’t want to put you in trouble over my own affairs."
He smiled brightly at her, and Mallory froze for a moment, finding Cassius’s sickly-smiling face far too dangerous.
By the time she gathered herself, Cassius had already begun.
’Focus.’ Cassius told himself before taking one step forward, then slowly took another, and immediately groaned, feeling the rune activate, his weight increasing further.
’What? I thought I used the same strength?’
He frowned, trying to understand what he’d missed. But he couldn’t find it, and his master simply watched.
’Okay, Cassius. Practice makes perfect! Allow yourself to fail so you can understand what didn’t work.’
With that in mind, Cassius began to walk slowly toward the mountain, paying attention to each step to understand it better.
However, by focusing only on his steps, he forgot to pay attention to his surroundings. Thus, he found himself struck by a steel arrow straight in the shoulder when he stepped on a trap.
Cassius groaned, his jaw clenching tight. That moment of pain made his next step unsteady, causing the weight to increase even more.
By that point, he was barely able to lift one leg except by using an extensive amount of strength. Suddenly, walking was no longer as instinctive as he’d thought.
However, Cassius was used to this level of pain. He had endured far worse back in the Test. That pain had cracked his mind.
This pain was nothing but a slight inconvenience.
So he continued along the path, slowly and steadily, not really minding whether he triggered a trap. What he wanted to understand first was how to use the same power in each of his steps.
And surprisingly...
It became easier to understand once his body grew heavier and his steps slowed. The slowness of lifting and placing each leg gave him enough time to control the strength.
Once. Twice.
A trap was triggered, this time with spikes erupting from the ground and piercing his legs.
Jaw clenched tighter, eyes hardened further, Cassius continued, his mind fixed on his steps.
Mallory watched him from behind with a strange smile. There were many other ways to get through this, but she couldn’t deny that focusing on one problem before the others was a viable option.
But an option only someone who wasn’t afraid of pain could take.
’And you’re clearly not afraid of pain, little bastard. Good. However, there’s a limit to what your body can handle before it fails you, leaving you paralysed.’
And she was right.
Soon enough, after many traps and with his body’s weight so high it felt like his internal organs were being crushed, Cassius fell to the ground, kneeling, his body drenched in sweat and blood.
"The fact that you’re used to pain and more resistant to it doesn’t mean you can allow yourself to bear it." Mallory spoke, walking slowly toward him. "Every wound you take, even the small, insignificant ones, will compound and bring you down."
She appeared before him, their eyes locking together.
"So the point is not to allow yourself to be wounded because you believe you can handle it. It’s to avoid them as much as you can. Otherwise you’ll end up like you did in the Test." She smiled thinly. "You did all the work, and yet ended up unable to finish it properly. You were saved by your friends. But don’t tell me you expect them to save you every time?"
Cassius nodded weakly, understanding his master.
"And some advice." She continued, pointing at the ground. "To make sure your steps are even, you must also pay attention to the ground itself. The ground isn’t the same everywhere. Some parts are harder, others softer, some filled with rocks and others not. Take all of that into consideration."
"...understood."
"And you’d better use all your senses."
"Ah?"
"Focusing your eyes on your feet will hardly help you. You have smell, touch, and hearing you can use to predict the traps."
Her eyes narrowed. "Use everything, little bastard."
At her words, Cassius realised he’d been relying on his eyes far too much. His other senses were barely used.
Seeing that her disciple understood, Mallory placed a hand on his chest and reset his weight, making it normal again.
But she didn’t heal him.
Cassius looked at her, puzzled.
"You’ll pay more attention to avoiding further injury if you’re already hurt, won’t you?" she smiled coldly. "Now get up and start again. You didn’t even walk a third of the distance."
The Last Born gulped and stood up again, his body burning with pain.
Revisiting all his master’s advice, he took a step forward, continuing his dreadful training.
’Queen above...’
[You’re on your own today, Cassius.]
—End of Chapter 232—