Voices... Too many voices.
I just want a few more minutes of sleep...
"Hey there sleepy head!" I hear a familiar voice call out to me.
"I'll be up in a second, Ella..." I respond in a groggy voice.
"It's Liliana!!" I hear the voice yell back at me.
Oh... Yea. Ella isn't here.
Slowly, my mind is brought back to reality and I open my eyes.
I'm standing in Sir Vaneer's home. Why am I here? What happened?
As I ask myself these questions I begin to remember what happened. My freak out. The fight. That energy. Everything begins coming back to me and I piece together what happened.
Liliana saved me.
"You finally awake?" Liliana says as I look around. Camila is right in front of me, looking at me strangely.
"Yea. Liliana, I'm really sorry for what happened earlier. I don't know what happened. I just... I don't know. I'm sorry." I apologize while looking at the floor. Not like she has any eyes for me to avoid but I do it out of habit anyways.
"It's alright Roman. If anything its my fault. I'll explain later but as we continue to live as one you will notice many changes in yourself. Some good, some bad. The reason I can't tell you what will happen is because I don't know. It's different for every spirit. I'm sure everything that happened and how you felt was due to that. Don't worry."
I still feel bad. My emotions have always clouded me. I wanted to fix that. I thought I've been getting better.
As I sulk I realize that I don't know what happened after I lost consciousness. I ask Liliana and she tells me what happened, what the king told her about the 3rd King of Lanuae.
So this is my next goal. To reach this man and find out if he's the reason behind all of this.
But, one thing this experience with the king has taught me is that I don't know anything about defending myself in this world. I don't know anything about combat in this world? Point is I need to learn how to defend myself. I can't rely on Liliana forever. I don't want to rely on anyone.
I talk to Liliana about it. She agrees I need to learn how to fight and how to use the strength I've been given. She also mentions that I know virtually nothing about this world besides the basics she has told me.
As we finish talking me and Camila begin walking to the back of the home where a training grounds is. With nothing to talk about, I think back to our encounter in my room. Liliana mentioned that she could sense a large amount of strength from Camila. Strength that is impressive due to low level of her Telum. Maybe she can teach me her process. Even if Liliana is a strong spirit, I'm sure I can still learn something from her.
"Liliana mentioned you having a lot of strength for someone with a weaker Telum. Do you think you can teach me about that process...Or skill or whatever it's considered." I ask her while looking around at the stunning greenery all over the home.
She doesn't answer right away, she's in front of me so I can't read her face but I'm assuming she is debating whether or not to even acknowledge Liliana's discovery.
"I can't show you my process sadly. I swore to the person who taught me that I won't reveal his secrets. However I can teach the you the principles that the process is based upon. It is public knowledge after all."
I smile, "I look forward to it then!"
We eventually reach the training grounds. It is a small cleared out space a little ways beyond the home. There are wooden boxes with a mix of resources. I notice weapons, armor and other combat related things. The only thing that didn't fit in were the large amount of books neatly stacked on a wooden table.
Camila takes me to the middle of the space and has me sit down with her. She takes no time and dives into the lesson.
"There are many different things for you to learn if you want to have a fighting chance. First things first," she says as she looks up and around, "there is energy everywhere. These grounds has been changed through the use of energy crystals, making the area much more abundant in natural energy. This will make training much easier but don't forget about the effect, as when you are not here, it won't be as easy to harness energy."
I nod and continue listening.
"Back to energy, it's everywhere. When the first spirit was born, it became a harnesser of energy. This ability to harness energy, it is innate to every living being. Of course, there are levels of efficiency that depends on being to being but there is a standard that all beings are able to reach. For example, physical augmentation. It is an ability that almost all beings are able to use."
Physical augmentation...Liliana mentioned that phrase when talking about those people at the camp.
Camila gets up and walks to a tree. She closes her eyes for a moment and as she opens them, they flash red. She throws her right fist and almost splits the tree completely down the middle. A slight breeze will probably bring it down now.
My eyes widen, is everyone in this world capable of doing that?
"Doing what I just did with a solider Telum shouldn't be possible. But, because of my high proficiency in harnessing energy, I'm able to do gather enough strength. That is the process of physical augmentation in a nutshell. Although of course, it's a lot easier said than done." Camila smiles with pride as she finishes her explanation.
"My, my, this girl really is talented. Listen well Roman, she's a good mentor!" Liliana says to me.
"You don't need to tell me twice."
So in summary, energy is all around. Physical augmentation is a basic skill that beings are able to wield. You gather energy from the area and...What's after that? What do you do with the energy after you harness it? How do you harness energy?
I ask my questions to Camila and she blushes from what I assume is embarrassment.
She laughs awkwardly and avoids eye contact, "I guess I forgot those parts...
"Nevermind..." Liliana sounds like she's holding in a laugh as she speaks.
She proceeds to tell me the missing information.
Gathering energy when starting is similar to meditation. You're supposed to stay still, stay silent, and try to feel everything around you. Feel your weight on the ground, feel the wind breeze against your skin, pay attention to every detail you can and eventually they all converge. Resulting in the ability to feel and harness energy. It's similar to unlocking a sixth sense. From there it develops like a normal skill, using it more and more will result in better efficiency.
"I'll get to how to use your energy once you are able to harness it." Camila finishes her explanation.
For the next hour we meditate and I try to unlock this sixth sense. Even with Liliana and Camila's help, I can't seem to get it. For a few moments I can sense a energy surround me but it fades just as quickly as it comes to me. Its frustrating but I have no choice other than to keep trying.
Once we finish the meditating we spar for a bit and Camila gives me basic fighting hand to hand instructions. How to properly control my body and use it to defend myself.
I'm honestly impressed with the detail she is able to teach me in. Although she's a bit forgetful, she really is a good mentor. Sadly, a good mentor doesn't always translate to a good student. Or rather, a successful one. I struggle with almost every aspect she tries teaching me. Sure it's my first day doing all this training but the results I were expecting were not the ones I was getting.
I need to get stronger faster. There is no telling what the freak king is going to do while I'm here in Noctis.
With a newfound motivation I begin sparring with Camila once again and try my best. I do a bit better but like before, I end up on my back, defeated. Camila is just too experienced for me right now. I'm useless. Why can't I just be where I need to be right now?!
I start getting angry. It's an unnatural anger, it grows so quickly that I don't know how to react. I feel like I'm going explode.
I raise my fist to slam it into the dirt ground and as I reach my target a red light blinds me.
I use my free hand to cover my eyes and eventually it fades.
I let my hand down and I instinctively look to Camila to see what happened, I'm assuming she was the reason behind the light.
Camila is staring at me with horror on her face.
"R-R-Roman!!! Are you ok?" She exclaims with genuine fear in her voice. Fear or worry. One of the two.
"Yes?" I'm confused, what happened?
"Your...Your hand!" She slowly raises her arm to point at the hand I slammed into the ground.
I look down and almost pass out.
My hand is gone. The bone from my forearm is protruding and blood is gushing out of the open wound.
I begin screaming in absolute agony.