With a groggy expression, Elderond stared at himself in the mirror. The once pale white boy who was frail and slim was starting to change. His face had slightly become sharper, indicative of the more prominent jawline. One surprising thing was his naturally pale complexion had become more coloured, making him no longer look like a zombie.
However, the most drastic change was to his body was that the slim body now had some definition. His muscle fibres twitched whenever he moved.
Elderond smiled. He was changing: he was no longer frail.
"If you look at the mirror that hard, Master, it might crack."
As if a tsunami had crashed on him, Elderond's face soured. Damned Medea, couldn't she let him feel proud for once?
Shaking his head, he washed out his bile stained mouth- an after taste of vomit was present in his breath whilst the back of his throat burned.
"Why does vomiting suck so much?"
"Typically, one doesn't want to cough up their guts. It obviously wouldn't feel great."
"Yes, your right- I need to work on holding it in."
Cleaning himself up, Elderond put on his usual attire and headed out.
"I need to get these clothes washed- they reek."
"For once, I'm glad not to be materialised- I'd prefer not to smell your teenage odour, Master."
"Ha-ha, if you were here, I'd just chuck my dirty clothes right at your face."
"Rude."
Elderond chuckled as he exited the front door, heading to the clearing, whilst Medea's evident snort resonated throughout his cerebral space.
Grandpa Lex was waiting in his usual spot. However, there were some weird weapon-like objects on the floor next to him.
Elderond had a bad feeling about this.
"Oho seems the pain train is back, Master."
"Fuck my life."
"Morning, Elderond, today is a great day. There's a gentle breeze drifting through the forest branches, and the sun is radiating in the sky brilliantly."
"Didn't know you were giving a lesson on the weather, Grandpa."
"Well, we'll see how snarky that mouth of yours is after you learn about what we are doing today."
A sinister smile coated Lex's lips.
"I assume it involves those weapons like contraptions?"
"Catching on quickly, aren't we? Yes, it will involve these weapon-like contraptions."
A cold feeling began leaking into Elderond's soul. Maybe the crazy old -man would finally finish him today.
"We will be conditioning your body: you will learn that if you don't dodge, you will get hit, and then after that, you will learn that if there is no room to dodge, you need to be able to take a hit."
"After the break from body fundamentals training yesterday, I think you should be well-rested for the final element."
"Isn't this child abuse?"
"Hardly, I'm not using sharp weapons, and it's merely body conditioning training."
Elderond gulped hard. It was another day in the gulag.
"Right, boy, let's head to the platform to do some light sparring. All you need to do is try and dodge."
Lex motioned to Elderond as they both walked to the raised platform. Lex had spent the early morning cutting down some trees and then using his wind blade skill to cut the tree trunks into some planks and assemble a wooden platform that rose from the ground.
The maser and student faced each other on the platform, ready for the festivities to begin.
"Prepare yourself, boy!"
The air currents pulsed, bang! The air currents compressed and burst apart as they were battered aside by Lex's movement. He kicked off the ground, making the air boom with fright.
"Oh shit! Grandpa's serious."
Frantically, Elderond tried dodging out of the way; but, it was futile. Grandpa Lex's palm slammed into his solar plexus, propelling him straight to the end of the platform.
Elderond spat a mouthful of blood as desperate gasps of air were taken in by his mouth.
The words from his lips came out with some difficulty due to the ridiculous speed of the attack.
"Grandpa, you could have…gone a little bit easier."
"The enemy won't ever go easy on you; so, you need to be prepared to dodge or take a blow at all times."
"Now suck it up and get back in position."
Reluctantly, Elderond got up and returned to a fighting stance.
"I'm coming, boy."
The air boomed again as Lex spun his hand in a chopping direction, aiming at Elderond's exposed neck.
Elderond wasn't going to let himself get hit so stupidly again. Rotating his torso and his hips, he manoeuvred under the chopping hand and kicked off the wooden floor, avoiding the attack.
"Good, you're reflexes aren't half bad when you're paying attention."
"Again."
The master and student duked it out multiple times, 8/10 times Elderond ended on the floor; however, he was slowly becoming more accustomed to Grandpa Lex's movements and could comfortably dodge some. He even managed to return a few palm strikes himself.
Lex nodded. This boy was improving quickly. But, there was a massive difference between direct attacks and indirect attacks. It was time to show him what a trained attack was.
Elderond once again prepared himself for the volley of attacks. He saw the same familiar palm strike to his solar plexus and got himself into position to dodge.
On the other hand, Lex smiled.
"Foolish Elderond, sometimes the enemy will deliberately strike the same pattern; but, they may use that as a faint for the real attack."
Elderond heard the comment too late. As the palm neared, he twisted his body out of the way.
Unluckily, this ended up being his downfall.
The palm suddenly switched positions as it travelled to the ground, acting as a lever for Grandpa Lex's legs as he swept Elderond's feet from under him.
"What the…"
The sentence never finished. Elderond's centre of gravity changed as he lost his balance and crashed towards the hard wooden plank floor, jarring his shoulder.
"Argh, that hurt."
"Good, the pain will serve as a memory. Remember, a trained fighter will always put in fakes within their attack pattern to throw you off. Watch their hips to know where they will move next."
Elderond nodded in confirmation.
He would remember that for next time, maybe one day he'd sweep Grandpa from under his legs.
"Now get up, let's see if you can take a hit when there is nowhere to run."
Dragging his bruised and battered body, Elderond trudged to the area where the peculiar objects resided.
"So how does this work, Grandpa?"
"Simply put, I will use my wind element essence to trap you within a restricted area. Then you will stand like a lamb to the slaughter as I batter you with these tools."
"Wait, are you for real? Do you call this fair? it's merely just abuse!"
"There is no fairness in battle boy, you either survive from an attack or you don't."
Elderond was furious. He was going to get battered by some weapon-like tools and couldn't even defend himself.
The first tool resembled a spear; however, the top consisted of a clay-rock mixture. Thus, it wouldn't impale Elderond.
Lex grabbed the tool and whacked Elderond's thighs, causing him to kneel over.
"Listen, boy- your body needs to be relaxed; but, your core firm. Control your breathing. Find that place I mentioned before: a place where you can forget about the pain."
Barely getting to his feet, Elderond relaxed his breathing and focused on keeping a tight core as the new tool came down. It was a set of fork-like sticks assembled into a hammer shape. It battered his shoulders and back, causing red welt to appear on his skin.
"Urghh, it hurts!"
"Focus, Master, this pain is nothing you can't handle."
With surprising words of encouragement from Medea, Elderond persevered.
However, his hope began to vanish as the last tool appeared in Grandpa Lex's hands.
It was a tool with horned reeds, joined together by vines that connected to a wooden pole. It was a BTEC whip.
"Bugger."
As the whip came crashing down on his frame. Elderond entered a lethargic-like state: the pain wasn't hurting as much; it was almost as if he was in a state between life and death.
Yet, the whip curled around his thighs, whipping his private parts, waking him from this state and ultimately dropping him to the ground in agony.
"Grandpa, I need those for the future!"
"Hilarious boy, the enemy doesn't care about that. They'd gladly rip off your balls if it meant taking you out."
"If they are your weakness, you must learn to cover them appropriately."
Elderond convulsed in pain.
"Damned Grandpa, I'll finish this damn training and give you some of your own medicine."
"You're a hundred years too early."
Lex was secretly pleased most Hystian's couldn't improve as much as Elderond. He had found an excellent student.
Although, whether he could finish the training with this boy and allow him to reach the master rank was another question.
He sensed one of the masters moving towards the forest.
In two months, there would be a confrontation.