A Week Ago, Western Empire's Kingdom of Neces
Within the basement of the household of a god couple, two people were dueling.
"Again" Ray shouted as he knocked Mane back for the nth time today. Mane quickly got up and dashed towards Ray. Countless small explosions followed every step he took and the air around him seemed to vibrate and hum in pleasure. Mane's movement followed a zigzag pattern, and finally he launched an uppercut when he was a few feet away.
*Bam*
Ray easily deflected the attack and proceeded to send a kick towards Mane's shoulder.
*whoosh*
Mane twisted his body midair to avoid the kick and grabbed onto his father's leg after it got past him. He applied his weight onto his father's leg and caused Ray to falter a bit. Once Mane landed stably on his feet, he swung his father upwards, towards the ceiling
*Boom*
Ray crushed back first into the barrier clad ceiling. He was dizzy for a while due to the sudden impact. He tried to clear his head as he felt himself falling back onto the ground. But he knew that there was no way Mane would let such an opportunity slip so he pushed a small amount of inner energy towards his head to clear the dizziness. But he wasn't quick enough.
"Extreme Burst!"
"Sh*t" Ray wasn't one to swear but this time he just couldn't help it. Once he heard his son's eager voice, he knew it was too late. He shrouded himself with the inner energy he could muster and prepared for impact. Due to his dizziness spell, he couldn't tell where the attack was going to come from so he didn't centralize his energy; therefore, his energy cloak was a bit weak.
"1st strike"
"2nd strike"
"3rd"
"4th"
"5th"
"6th"
*Bam*
Mane's attacks sent his father flying towards the ceiling again. The young boy landed on the ground and quickly leapt towards his falling father to continue the string of attacks. Unfortunately for Mane, his father wasn't a god of battle for nothing. Although Ray was still a bit dizzy, the fogginess had cleared up a bit. He curled his body into a ball and somersaulted in Mane's direction. When he was about to crash into Mane, the young boy heard his father mumble a lease.
"Gravitatis Adduci"
*Boom*
Mane grunted in pain as the expected outcome of his attack was not achieved. Instead of smashing his father into the roof again, he was rather sent tumbling down with his curled up father on him. It looked like a heavy ball was pushing him down. Mane smartly got out of the way by pushing off his curled up father and finally getting away from him. He flipped backwards a few times to stabilize himself. His father fell onto the floor like a comet and crashed into the barrier over the ground.
*BOOOM*
His crash was similar to a rocket exploding. Mane didn't understand how it was possible for his father to be so heavy. However after giving it some thought, he knew it had to do with the lease his father mumbled.
His father jumped up and dusted his clothes in less than a second.
"What was that?" Mane asked, curious to know what exactly that lease was.
"Gravitatis Adduci" Ray answered as he stretched. "It allows one to increase the gravitational pull on an object exponentially, based on the amount of chaos one can muster" Ray continued.
"And you used it on yourself instead" Mane was enlightened. "How many times?" Mane wondered, wishing to know how much increase his father could manage"
"I can do a lot. But I just increased it by an exponent of 4" Ray replied.
"Wow" Mane was amazed. He now understood that the main purpose behind his father's energy cloak was not for weathering the flurry of attacks that were coming his way, but to prepare for that lease. His father was a pseudo body wielder, but like any other pseudo body wielder, his father didn't have great control over outer energy. His body was strong, but to increase the gravitational pull on his body by 4, if he didn't protect himself with any inner energy, he would be injured.
"Let's stop for now" Ray quickly spoke when he saw that Mane was ready to jump at him again. He was a god, but even he couldn't keep up with Mane's energy. His son didn't seem capable of exhaustion.
"Okay" Mane relaxed his stance and fetched himself a glass of water. He got a glass for his father while he was at it.
"Thanks" Ray received the glass from Mane and took a small sip before putting it down. He was a god so he didn't really thirst for water. He did drink it, but he didn't really need it.
"Unlike me, you are quite talented in your outer energy control." Ray stated.
"You don't lack talent. You understand a bit of body wielding even though you've never practiced it before. You're just lazy" Mane plainly stated.
Ray's mouth twitched at the honesty of his son's words. He couldn't even argue because he knew his son was right.
"My father once told me to try to blend body wielding and energy wielding together" Ray became a tad more serious and said.
"What do you mean? I should learn to switch between the two during battle?" Mane asked, confusion on his face. Body wielders weren't energy wielders and energy wielders weren't body wielders. Sure there were pseudo energy wielders and pseudo body wielders amongst body and energy wielders respectively, but that was due to bloodline. Everyone eventually chose a path and stuck to it. Usually talented energy wielders were either scholars or spiritualists too, but body wielders rarely paid any attention to other arts so combinations were rare. However, they were so powerful that it mattered little.
"That's not what I mean. He advised me to learn to use both simultaneously" Ray said something Mane had never considered.
"I have never heard that before" Mane was a bit surprised. For starters, Ray never spoke of his father and Mane had never met his grandfather before; or anyone else from his family for that matter. However, it had never occurred to him to try to combine the two.
"Actually, it was my sister's field of study. She believed that it was possible and performed a number of experiments to prove it. My father saw these experiments and believed that she was right" Ray continued.
"You see, my father's father was a great energy and body wielder; and his entire generation was the same" Ray stunned Mane with the sudden revelation.
"Unlike your mother's family which has focused on body wielding their entire ancestry, we weren't like that. It was after my grandfather was killed that practicing both fizzled out."
"You never told me this 1st" Mane quickly sought to confirm the information from 1st. He understood the riddles long ago, so he knew that 1st was related to him. Unfortunately, he still had to call him 1st for fear of him disappearing.
"Because it is a harsh path. I wanted you to master body wielding a bit more. At least to get to the same level as your energy wielding before you attempted anything of the sought" 1st explained. This time he wasn't trying to hide anything from Mane. He was only waiting for the young Supreme to grow a bit more before upping his training.
"Oh okay" Mane happily accepted his explanation and returned his focus to his father. "But how would one go about it?" Mane asked his father.
"Well, my sister explained it this way: outer energy and inner energy are from the same source. They are both forces of the Edict. The difference between the two is that one is much more turbulent than the other. Outer energy is a bit similar to Chaos but it is much milder. Nevertheless, just like Chaos, it is too strong to store in our feeble bodies. So body wielders train their entire lives to be able to store it in their bodies for brief periods in order to unleash devastating attacks"
"He has a solid foundation. It's a pity he didn't body wield" 5th sighed from within Mane's mindscape. The young boy agreed with his master. His father had great theoretical knowledge on body wielding; however, he had never put his heart into practicing what he knew.
"The stronger a body wielder gets, the more outer energy he/she is able to utilize; and, he/she can store the energy in their bodies for longer periods. Then, when body wielders break into the Nobility Realm, they are strong enough to keep outer energy in their bodies indefinitely"
Mane nodded as he listened to his father. He knew all these, he was just surprised his father knew so much as well.
"But this is where it gets interesting" Ray took another sip of water and smiled at the eager Mane. He knew that Mane was very eager to hear the results of his sister's experiment. After what felt like ages to Mane, his father continued his narration.
"My sister believed that if outer energy and inner energy were from the same source, then they could be fused together. And her experiments proved it was feasible. Added to the fact that our ancestors achieved it before – although our bloodline density is weaker than theirs – there was no doubt it could be done"
"Well there goes the theory that outer energy is a different form of energy and isn't part of Edict" 2nd mumbled in Mane's mindscape. In some major worlds out there, it was believed that outer energy was another energy distinct from Chaos or Edict. Some believed that it was energy between the two. 2nd's world was of that belief. Unfortunately, that wasn't true. Outer energy was part of Edict. It had never been an independent energy.
"So if you knew all this, why didn't you do it?" Mane wondered. If it was so great, why didn't Ray try it?
"Because at the time, I hated my father with every fiber of my being and didn't want to receive anything from him – even if it was just some good natured advice"
Mane shut up when he heard his father's reasoning. He didn't know why there was so much bad blood between his grandfather and his father, but it seemed that had ended. His father didn't hate his grandfather anymore, but they weren't exactly on great terms either.
"So that should be your focus for now. Don't bother worrying about how much outer energy you can use. Focus on blending your current outer energy with a little inner energy for the next few months. It would be hard, but I believe in you. If you cannot do it, no one else can"
Mane had a new goal. If he could blend the two, he would be mighty powerful.
"And then would I be able to spar with Mom?" Mane asked expectantly. Ray smiled bitterly seeing his son's expectant expression. After learning that Alexis was a body wielder, Mane was always eager to spar with her but had always been rejected. Mane didn't know this, but Alexis found it hard to stop herself when she got into a battle. She was staying away from Mane for a good reason.
"Not now kiddo. Become a god, then your mom will spar with you" Ray tousled Mane's hair and rejected his plea. Mane looked disappointed, but he had no idea it was for his own good.
******************************
Presently, Eastern Empire's Imperial Palace
"I haven't reached there quite yet. But I have a 2% success rate" Mane thought silently. His training in blending outer and inner energy was only a week long. But he had managed to get some results. Albeit a 2% success rate, the achievement was impressive since it had only been a week. He stabbed his sword towards the Possessed, who hurriedly put up his rod in defense, and sent it flying.
"I'd have to ride my luck I guess"