The time had come. The training I was genuinely interested in. This was no longer about playing along, this was about understanding how this world called Auroria worked.
The first part of the training was a rigorous workout and body conditioning, which I was definitely thankful for. This body had become a burden, and all the pushups, situps, and runs that I did daily alongside Bruce had helped me learn how to stabilize and center myself in this tiny body.
Something that had surprised me was how seriously Bruce was taking this training. I guess it was something that he had always wanted to do?
I wonder what fathers wanted to teach their sons on Earth. Driving? I didn't really care anyway, but the thought had crossed my mind for some reason.
After a year or so of physical training, it was time for the dueling aspect of the training.
"Here you go buddy, I didn't give you anything for your third birthday, so this is my gift to you. I hope you like it!" said Bruce as he kneeled down and gave me a small wooden sword. I looked at it with admiration. This was the first time I had held a weapon in what felt like years, and something about it sparked excitement within me.
"Thank you, papa!" I exclaimed, my cheeks flushed with joy.
Even if I had hated fighting on Earth, it was due to the cruel conditions of the fights: Survival of the fittest.
It was a natural law of the world, originating from Darwin's Theory on Evolution, it explained the evolution of species through natural selection. Even on Earth, it seemed like we had returned to a primitive age of thinking. It had become a place where the weak died off.
I could see Jane standing on the porch of the small stone house, her face defiled with worry.
"Be careful, you two!" she called out.
"We will!" answered Bruce with a simple thumbs-up.
He wasn't going to be careful...
He crouched down and held out a thin branch, almost the size of a twig, in front of him, around two mels of terrain separating me from him.
"Okay buddy, for the stance-" he started, stopping at the sight in front of him. A three-year-old with visibly no combat experience stood there, perfectly balanced with a stance he had never seen before, completely in control of his body. Even if both my parents had become accustomed to my odd behavior, I could definitely understand his shock. I just looked at him and smiled confidently, which seemed to snap him back to the fact that his child was an abnormality.
"Okay then, hit this branch with everything you've got!"
I ran towards the branch and brought my sword down from overhead, using the momentum I had built up to increase the power of the swing.
WACK
The sword met the branch and stopped. My father grinned with pleasure.
"Great job, Jay! Now... let's duel!" he said, dead serious.
"What did you say Bruce Cadmium?" asked my mother, and both my father and I froze in fear. Our heads turned like rusty robots towards Jane, an ice-cold aura leaking from her body as she forced a smile, pretending that what she had just heard was a joke.
"N-nothing..." he muttered, admitting defeat instantly.
Good call man, I thought. Beads of sweat running down my cheeks from the utter terror that my mother produced.
Our daily workout training now included sword practice. I definitely appreciated the fact that my dad never tried to correct my current technique, which saved us a ton of time. After only a few weeks, he had already gravitated towards binding mid-fight, and I couldn't be happier.
"Listen, Jay. Bind is what flows all around us. It has no particular use or element, and what it's converted into depends on the user. Imagine embedding bind into your sword attack, that would effectively increase its power, even if it would remain elementally neutral. Understand?" he explained, extremely confident in his teaching abilities.
I merely stared at him. What would've happened if I was a normal three-year-old? I wouldn't have understood anything! He wasn't trying to simplify anything!
"Okay, let's try it!" he shouted, backing away and putting up the same branch we had been using for the past few weeks. The branch was definitely stronger than it looked, and I could sense that it was infused with bind.
I took my balanced stance, my sword pointing out diagonally in front of me. I closed my eyes and sensed the strings of bind around me. My connection to the natural energy of this world had become much stronger, the pool of bind that I was able to draw on being a lot bigger now. I visualized the strings wrapping around the blade of my wooden sword.
I opened my eyes, feeling the energy swirling around me and into my designated location.
BRUCE CADMIUM'S POV:
Ever since our training had started, this kid just started to make less and less sense. He had a unique form of combat at the age of three, never missed a target, and his reaction time was ridiculous! His natural reflexes were superior to an experienced assassin! I definitely saw him later on as an agility-based adventurer, but until he could control the bind around him, there was no way of telling.
Considering most kids started forming their cores at the age of ten to thirteen, Jay still had ways to go before he was a complete binder. Until then, he would hone his skills with me, and when he would eventually awaken (the word attributed to the first time an individual is able to sense bind around them), we would get more advanced lessons for him. I had no doubt in my mind that this kid was in the one percentile of children who could control bind. Have you seen him? The kid's got the experience of a veteran fighter... at the age of three!
I had given him the task of controlling bind around him as a way for him to understand failure, and how it was a natural step in becoming an accomplished binder.
I was thinking to myself about what I would say to my amazing young kid who had experienced his first defeat, cheering him up and honing his determination. It reminded me of my binder training, man, those were the days.
But when I looked up, all I could see were those eyes. Those blue-green diamonds that brimmed with raw power... with bind.
"There's no way..." I muttered as he charged towards the branch I had purposely infused with bind to assure its durability.
The young kid leaped with complete control over his center of gravity, a small cry echoed from his mouth as he brought the weapon down on the branch.
SNAP
The branch snapped... snapped in two! I didn't say anything, merely looking at my child. His brown hair fluttered from the energy around him, those eyes looking right at me with a pale blue flame roaring within them. For a moment, the image of my kid vanished, and all I could see was a warrior on equal footing.
The illusion was instantly shattered as my kid returned to his usual self.
"I did it, papa! I did it!" he exclaimed, overjoyed.
"You sure did, bud," I said, still in awe.
I guess I was old news in terms of teaching already, huh?