The next morning, I wake up early and leave the infirmary for my room. After preparing, I go to the field. There, I find Rose, kneeling, with her eyes closed. She must be praying.
There is a lot of equipment beside her. And among them, there is a long weapon like that sticks out more than the other things. After five minutes, she stands up and sighs.
"You are early. Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, I did." She is really cold in her voice. So that's how she will treat me from now on.
"Okay. I will give you a brief lecture about Angas and the types and attributes before we continue. Do not stop me unless I say so." She raises a wooden sword and plants it on the ground before her.
"There are two types of Angas, PHYSICAL AND ELEMENTAL. Physical Angas allows you to connect to your own body. That way, you can improve your physical prowess. People who can use physical Angas belong mostly to the warrior class."
Rose raises her hand and she is holding a nut. Then, her hand somehow shines white a little and she crushes the nut as if it was just butter in her hand.
"By mastering your body, you can reach a height that even heroes would probably struggle to reach—the very peak of humanity. Very few people have achieved that, however, only three actually. And they receive the title of DIZ'KAR: demi-god in iollian. But of course, that is if we only consider physical Angas. What is it?"
I raised my hand while Rose was talking, but she continued for a moment.
"If you use physical Angas, you can't use elemental?"
"That's why I said you should not interrupt me. You can use both. Like I told you the first day, I am a Defender using principally the water attribute. Those who have a high capacity to connect to their body are of warrior class; others will be mage class."
Rose takes another weapon to the ground near her, a staff, pretty similar to the ones Mom used that day.
"Those of the mage class principally use staffs to enhance the speed of their script chanting without reducing the power which will come from it. Some can also use it as a weapon so be wary of them. Most people tend to think that those using staffs are weak in close ranged fights but it is not always the case."
She then puts back the staff to the ground and takes a piece of paper that has multiple colors on it.
"Also, even if it is not important for you since you did it, there are people who are called SOLEM'N: discarded. They are mostly people who haven't received the goddess blessing by their twenties."
"But can't they just go and receive it? Is there a restriction concerning the blessing?"
"I just know that the church forbids people from receiving the goddess blessing once they have turned twenty. As for the reason, I can't say. Now, let's talk about mages. They are those who can use elemental Angas in theory. However, from the eternal academy's point of view, those who don't have at least three elemental Angas aren't worthy of being a mage."
She touches the paper numerous times with her finger.
"They will be considered warriors by default. The elements we can connect to through Angas are FIRE, WATER, WIND, EARTH, LIGHTNING, LIGHT, AND DARKNESS. Heroes can use all elements aside from darkness. Since to be considered a mage, you must have at least three Angas, as I have only two: water and earth, I was trained as a warrior. Mages are a minority, and most of them end up as nobles with full rights granted by kings. The goddess doesn't give that many Angas blessings after all. Everything is okay so far?"
"Yes, ma'am. Please continue." I just learned so much I can't stop smiling. Must be why she asked if everything was alright. Thank you Rose, thank you so much.
"Anyways. The eternal academy has divided warriors into five categories: VANGUARD, DEFENDER, ARCHER, ANGAS-SLAYER, AND ANGAS-KNIGHT. Vanguards, defenders, and archers are people who can't use elemental Angas or just one at best. As you will understand, I was given that class since I decided to only use Water as elemental. Angas-slayer is not a well-known category for me. though Mark is one himself. Those classes are given during your cursus at the eternal academy and proclaimed at your graduation."
Rose's explanations are so helpful. There is so much I understand now. But, I have so many questions now, my mouth itches, but I can't speak. Maybe I will ask the old man Excafol later.
"Ma'am, what is an ALL-ROUNDER?" Wait, where did I hear that? I can't remember.
"Hmm... All-rounders are among mage-class. They have all elemental Angas. But, they don't exist. Never in the whole history of humanity have we ever have an all-rounder. Where did you hear about it?"
"I think I heard it somewhere one day."
So they are like legends then. But really where did hear that?
"Stay focused. Among the weapons we, warriors, use, there is one, in particular, that is so difficult to master there is nobody I know ever tried: the RAIZEN."
Rose is now holding the weapon which was near her when she was praying.
It looks like a spear as the shaft is long, but the blade is also long and thick. It somehow looks disproportionate. Even though it is a little short for Rose, it is longer than me. Is she going to use it against me?
"From now on, it will be your weapon. I won't explain anything to you about its usage. Learn by yourself, but I will punish you if you don't improve."
Rose says as she passes me the Raizen, it is in wood, but it is still heavy. I have to hold it with both hands. And even so, the blade part is heavier and almost as long, so it is hard to hold it properly.
"Now, three thousand swings and three thousand stabs. Chop! Chop!" Rose starts clapping her hands as she gives me the menu of today's training.
***
The afternoon, finally free of the new tyrant. Rose has become someone else entirely. She smacks me with a stick when my swings are wrong. She insults me when I stop; a devil she is. My body is heavy once again. I can't feel the pain of my muscles, but since I have a hard time walking, it should hurt a lot right now. I drag myself to the library. Excafol is at his counter, humming a song I never heard before. He seems quite happy.
"Oh! kiddo, you have come back?!! Did you miss this beautiful man so much? It's okay, bask in my glorious presence as much as you want!"
What is wrong with this old man? I walk painfully to the counter and take the black book then sit on one of the tables. I don't know what is happening to him, and I don't want to be part of it.
I start reading the book slowly. There are so many pieces of information contained here; it takes time to process them. But, when I reach the 25th page, I notice that some of the writings look like they are floating like they are not written in the book.
'If you can read this, it means you were able to awaken your Angas. Congratulations. Also, I just notice that I didn't mention the awakening process can kill you. Do forgive me for that. Tee-hee.'
What the hell is Tee-hee?!!!!!!! I unconsciously slap the book and close it, making a loud sound. Excafol looks at me and starts laughing.
"Ahahah!! What? Tired of the book already!!! Come on, try harder, kid!! Ahahaha!!"
Senile old man. Anyways, back to my reading.
'Now that you have awakened, here comes the difficult part. Creating your script. The script is basically a way to ask nature for help if it is elemental and call on your hidden capacities if it is physical. Therefore, it is easy to understand that physical Angas have limits: your body limits.'
Understanding my limits? How can I do that when I, myself don't know if it hurts or not?
'Elemental Angas might look like they are infinite, but they are not. Your body is also a limit because your mind is used as an intermediary to changes the nature into whatever you wish to use, meaning that if your mind is not consolidated and structured enough, the amount you can process will be limited as well.'
I think I heard those words before. There really is something important I have forgotten.
'So now, you will have to practice. Train your body as much as you can, build your muscles and stamina. The more, the better. Your physical Angas will only grow stronger afterward. For elemental, build your mind.'
Building your mind...It has a somehow good sound to it. Like I will become really intelligent or something.
'I will give you the three exercises that I do on a regular basis. First is the rubis cube, find one wherever you can and try to resolve it. You must be able to do it at least twenty times a day, no matter your condition. Second is mental imaging. Try to imagine things in your mind and decompose it into as many elements as possible without forgetting anyone then put them back together. And the last one is emotional control.'
Emotional control. That's the one thing I will really need to learn. I don't think I control my emotions as much as I should.
'On the contrary to how you have awoken your Angas, to use it, you must have full control of your emotions. Emotional control is not something that can be learned easily and is applicable at all times. Before continuing my book, train like this for at least one year. Or else, everything else I will explain will be useless to you. GOOD LUCK AND SEE YOU SOON.'
**
One year. So I will have to train for one year before continuing this book. Will it still be here, though?
"Excafol, do you intend to sell this book?"
"Ah? Where is the honorifics kid?" Senile old men are the worst.
"Sir Excafol, will you sell this book?"
"Yes, I think so. I can't read it after all. Why? You want it?"
"Yes, I do."
"15.000.000 wellis."
"Isn't that a lot of money? How can I find it?"
"You have a wage as an apprentice. For the rest, I don't know."
"Okay, I understand. Also, do you have a book about Raizens and a rubis cube?"
"Raizens? Those crude weapons? Hum, yes, take that yellow book. And for the rubis cube; come tomorrow, I will get one for you, free of charge since you are a persistent one."
I go to the counter and take the yellow book. It is a very small book, about thirty pages. And there are only basic explanations about how to use the weapon. Most of the writings explain its origin, which is useless to me. I need to find someone to teach me.