LATEST UPDATES

Soul Between Lives - Chapter 44

Published at 1st of February 2019 04:05:13 AM


Chapter 44: 44

If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again






After their meal, Lucius changed the surroundings to be similar to the training hall and created a number of practice dummies and targets.

Alex stared wide-eyed as everything changed around him. "This is amazing."

Haruka, standing near him, smiled, "You'll get used to this kind of thing eventually, but it can be really dangerous if you get too used to it all."

["Too true."] Angel chimed in.

Alex looked at Haruka, his eyes still wide, "What do you mean?"

"Umm," Haruka shifted her weight from one foot to the other, "If you get too used to how easy it all is, you don't want to put in much effort. It can be pretty bad for your training and personal life." She scratched behind one of her ears as she watched Lucius making the changes.

Alex kept staring at her trying to understand exactly what she meant.

["She means that if everything is extremely convenient, you'll get lazy and won't want to work hard when more effort is required."] Angel mentally nodded as she spoke, though Alex couldn't see her, ["Remember all those times you used the microwave to cook a pot pocket instead of cooking up eggs and toast which you really wanted?"]

The memories of those mundane moments flooded Alex. He pursed his lips and frowned. "Right, that does make sense huh."

It wasn't much longer before Lucius was done remodeling the world. When he was, he called Alex forward and showed him the selection of weapons arrayed before him.

"Pick whichever weapon that you're the most comfortable with," Lucius said as he thumped Alex on the back.

Alex stumbled as he was pushed forward. He looked back at Lucius with worry etched on his face and asked, "Are we going to be fighting each other now?"

"Not yet, I'm just going to gauge how well you can now use your power. All you have to do is channel your power into your attack so we can see what happens."

"Like what you did with the log before?"

"Exactly." Lucius grinned in encouragement. "Now pick your weapon."

Alex turned his attention back to the row of weapon stands and was dazzled by the sheer variety. Not only were there types of weapons he'd never seen before but there were many varieties of the ones he was familiar with. Just the variety of swords alone took up many large racks.

[Any advice you can give me on this Angel?]

["Hmmm, when in doubt go for a simple sword. They have great versatility. Oh! How about that blue one-handed blade with the yellow grip?"]

[I don't like yellow that much.]

Angel mentally rolled her eyes, ["It's not about how it looks right now. I doubt you'll be keeping any of them once you're done, so just grab it already."]

"Alright," Alex said out loud, as he walked forward to take the single-edged saber from the rack. He drew it from its sheath and gasped. "This feels so light, like its a part of my arm." He started swinging it around, heedless of his surroundings.

"Careful with that!" Lucius barked, "Injuries won't be permanent in this training space but I won't condone foolish behavior."

Alex flinched from the sharp yell. "I'm sorry. I was just amazed at how easy it is to swing this one." He broke eye contact and took a closer look at the blade. It had almost no decorations but it felt far more like a real weapon than the factory forged and sharpened swords he'd bought back on Earth.

Lucius kept frowning but allowed Alex a moment to get comfortable with his sword. Then the weapon racks descended back into the ground clearing the area and Lucius had Alex stand before one of the dummies.

"First, slash at it once without using your power to get the feel for it. Then I want you to take a moment and channel some power into your sword arm. Imagine the sword is part of your arm when you do this and channel your power into the sword as well." Lucius stepped back and motioned for Alex to start.

Alex looked the dummy up and down and lifted the saber in preparation to strike.

["Step a bit closer or you may miss."] Angel said with a half teasing tone. Alex unconsciously stood further away from the dummy than he should have. This wouldn't be an issue if he knew any footwork, but Alex was still a veritable novice in personal combat.

Alex tried not to look embarrassed as he stiffly stepped forward with the saber still ready to strike. Off to the side, Lucius noted how Alex corrected his distance on his own and nodded thoughtfully.

"Hah!" Alex yelled as he swung the saber. The leather covering was sliced through but the blade stopped in the wooden dummy.

["Carefully pull it out. You don't want to break the blade after just the first swing."]

[I don't want to break the blade at all.] Alex said indignantly while moving the blade around to dislodge it.

Angel was pleasantly surprised by Alex's sudden seriousness. The tone of his voice was more manly than usual. She recorded it for personal use later. She didn't mind at all that Alex considered himself more experienced than her when it came to weapons. She only wished she could capture a scene where Alex was facing off against a rival male with the serious expression he was making now.

Alex tried to channel his energy into his arm and the blade but kept losing focus on it when the energy was close to his elbow. It took him five full minutes of trying before he felt some power in his hand and the sword. He quickly swung the blade before he lost his focus again.

*Shink*

The sword passed right through the wood this time. Alex nearly lost his balance and would have if the sword was any heavier. He ended up just stumbling a step before finding his balance again. He looked at the lower part of the dummy and then at the top part lying on the ground.

*Clap* *clap* *clap*

Lucius and Haruka were clapping while grinning. It hadn't taken Alex long at all to make this much progress. He seemed extremely clueless when it came to being a fighter, but training would forge him into a proper soldier. It was only a matter of time and experience.

"Well done. Now sheath the sword and try doing exactly the same with just your hand."

Both Alex and Haruka glanced at Lucius when he said that.

Haruka caught herself giving Lucius a questioning look and quickly looked back at Alex, [Is he serious? Isn't he moving this too fast?]

Alex looked down at his hand still holding the saber. [Is that even possible for me? Won't it really f*cking hurt?]

Angel laughed, ["Don't imagine feeling pain or it might really happen. Focus on attacking and channeling your power instead." Angel nodded again after remembering a few things, "Yep just imagine your hand slicing the dummy just like the saber did and you'll be fine."]

Alex sheathed the saber and stepped closer to the dummy. He looked down at his hand and straightened his fingers into a blade. [How should I do this?]

["I just told you."]

[No I mean, what part of my hand should I use first?]

Angel knew what he meant but understood the need to let Alex have some room. If she always answered everything as he thought it, his mind could very well become lazy in similar ways to having too much convenience, as in the previous example. Playing mental ping pong with their thoughts, answering and asking questions at the speed of light could improve his efficiency, but his ability to think critically would probably wither and go extinct.

Angel sighed internally. It was a similar problem to having the correct answers always given to you with a simple google search rather than working through a question step by step. You might get the correct answer but when it came to testing time, you more than likely won't be able to arrive at the solution on your own. Angel liked the idea of Alex relying on her but wasn't attracted to the image of him using her as a crutch.

["How do you think you should? Don't be afraid because it might hurt." Angel stressed her point. "Imagine your hand is a blade and swing it like a blade."] She could see Alex consider using the part of his hand that would hurt him the least. This was the exact wrong imagery to have to achieve his goal.

Angel continued as Alex kept considering how he would go about the exercise. ["If you're focused on not getting hurt instead of focusing on hurting your enemy, you are shaping your power with the wrong intent here. Your power follows your will and your will follows your intent. If your intent is just not to get hurt, you won't attack seriously. And if you don't attack seriously you've not only wasted time and power but you might even get hurt while accomplishing nothing in the process."]

Alex was almost overwhelmed by all the info Angel was spitting at him. He looked like he was frozen in place to Lucius and Haruka.

[This is my first time. I'm doing the best that I can.] Alex clenched his teeth.

["I'm just trying to help you. Trust me, forget about pain. You should be used to it by now anyway and have nothing to fear from the sensation. Just believe your hand will cut through it and let your power achieve your imagined visualization and see what happens. Ok?"]

Alex nodded, [Alright, I'll give it a try.]

He stepped forward while moving power into his hand and imagined it surrounded by a sharp blade. He slashed at the dummy picturing his hand going cleanly through, which it did. Until he lost focus near the end and his hand was stopped by the last bit of leather. He stood there dumbstruck and tried feeling the sensations in his hand for any injury. All he felt was the weight of the dummy pinching him as he stared at his half-buried wrist.

"Well done!" Lucius clapped while stepping forward. "Well done indeed." he said with a big grin.

Haruka observed the scene with her mouth hanging slightly open. "Is he some kind of natural?" She asked under her breath. Her impression of him was quickly changing.

"My hand is stuck!" Alex was almost panicking as he tried to free himself.

Lucius just laughed and continued walking toward him, but the corners of Haruka's eyes started to twitch.

"Ow! Ow ow ow. Splinters of wood are stabbing me."

Haruka took a deep breath and let it all out before she ran to get in front of Lucius. "Stop trying to pull it out and just tilt the dummy towards the intact leather like a hinge."

She pushed the top of the dummy on the opposite side from Alex's hand which lifted the dummy and freed his hand. She held his hand and inspected it. There were some bleeding punctures, scratches, and other marks but he was otherwise unharmed. Little droplets of rain mixed with the bit of blood in his wound and healed his minor injury.

"You did very well for your first time Alex," Lucius said and waved his hand to stop the rain. "With a bit of practice, you'll be ready for a real battle in no time."

Alex started to blush because Haruka was staring intently at him from right beside him. He tried to ignore her as he responded to Lucius. "That was awesome! I fantasized about cutting stuff with my hand before, but never really thought I could do it."

Lucius nodded with a pleased grin. "You don't seem to be afraid of pain, so let's see how well you use your power in defense."

To Alex, Lucius's grin suddenly looked sadistic.




Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!