Chaus and Dru were in the illusionary world. It had been 6 hours since Chaus learned of his Asura body. During that time, Dru fixed the flaws in Chaus's footwork. The footwork, called "Dragon Steps," was something only the kings of the dragon race could learn. This wasn't because it was exclusive to the dragon kings, but because only the dragon kings had the talent to learn this footwork. Chaus, with talent surpassing Carnaks, could learn Dragon Steps faster than Carnak did, but not without flaws. As such, Dru spent the last 6 hours fixing Chaus's flaws.
Chaus quickly moved forward and changed directions instantly without slowing down. He finally reached the beginner stage of Dragon Steps. Chaus was impressed and satisfied with his improvement. Dru was also impressed.
"Your footwork is impressive, but your spearmanship and magic is lacking. Try hitting me with the spear." Dru threw a spear at Chaus.
Chaus caught the spear, but he had qualms about attacking his teacher.
An amused Dru looked at Chaus. "With your spearmanship, you'll never hit me."
Chaus grew offended and angry. He started attacking Dru and didn't hold back.
4 hours passed. During those 4 hours, Chaus didn't even manage to touch Dru's clothes.
Chaus swung the spear in an arc, aiming at Dru's legs, but Dru simply stepped back.
"Your strikes lack intent behind them. You're going through the motions, but you aren't serious about striking to kill. Every strike should be done with the intent to kill."
Chaus struck again, this time striking with the intent to kill.
"Your strikes lack flow. Your kinetic energy chain is in disarray. Feel the flow and follow it."
Chaus had no idea what that meant. Dru had been giving the same pointer to Chaus for the past 4 hours, but Chaus still didn't know what that meant. Follow the flow? What flow? Chaus continued trying to feel the flow but felt nothing.
"You're forcefully trying to feel the flow. Don't force it. Let it come to you."
Chaus grew frustrated, but quickly wrapped up his emotions. He let go of all his emotions and calmed his head. He stopped thinking and calmly attacked Dru. Chaus was calm, but his attacks held an intensity greater than his previous attacks. His attacks sped up. Chaus thrust, slashed, jabbed, swung, and thrust again. His once flawless attacks turned into a performance of art. Everything seemed to flow together and not a single bit of energy was wasted. Dru smiled at Chaus's breakthrough.
Chaus could feel it. He could feel the flow. He continued following the flow and attacking Dru. Suddenly, he had the sudden urge to use magic. "Burn." His spear ignited in black flames. Chaus, with his burning spear, continuously attacked Dru. Something remarkable happened. The flames that were supposed to go out didn't. Chaus was surprised at the result.
"The reason your flames would go out was because you didn't follow the flow of energy. Now that you aren't forcing your soul energy to manifest flames, it's following its rightful path. Before, your spear was on the wrong path while your soul energy was on the right path. You had to force your soul energy onto the wrong path. Now that your spear is on the right path, you will naturally be able to perform magic while moving. "
Chaus understood. He had been doing everything wrong. Only by following the natural order of things would the most progress be made. He was forcing things instead of letting it come to him.
Thud. Chaus's spear shaft hit Dru's finger. The spear stopped moving and the flames went out. Dru had stopped Chaus's spear with his finger. Chaus was caught off guard. "My flames."
"You found the flow, but you didn't follow it. Flow cannot be destroyed, but it can be changed. During battle, the flow is constantly changing. You must follow that change otherwise what just happened will happen."
Chaus understood. In battle, two flows would be clashing. Each clash would make the flows follow a new path. Chaus must follow that path if he wanted to continue using magic to enhance his spear.
Dru manifested a stick in his hand. He pointed it at Chaus. Chaus understood Dru's meaning. Chaus and Dru clashed until Chaus was kicked out of the illusion. After leaving the illusion, Chaus decided it would be best for him to get some rest. He hadn't slept for two days.
The next day Chaus fought 4 ziki while Dru watched. Chaus followed the flow and fought the ziki with a spear made of black flame. He followed the flow 80% of the time. When the ziki attacked him, Chaus lost track of the flow but quickly found it again. Now that Chaus was able to kill the ziki, he was able to kill them at an acceptable pace, but not as fast as he did with the Asura body.
The ziki were fast, but not as fast as Chaus using Dragon Steps. He was able to dodge their attacks easily. Additionally, after finding out about flow, Chaus's spearmanship reached the basic level of Carnak's spearmanship. As a result, every attack Chaus performed injured the ziki. After 15 minutes Chaus killed all 4 ziki.
Chaus looked at Dru when he was finished with the Ziki. They shared a look of mutual understanding. Chaus and Dru both understood what Chaus had to work on.
Dru was impressed by Chaus's self analysis. Most people that pursue power are blinded by their own strength, but Chaus was able to judge his abilities in an efficient and unbiased manner. This would be a crucial skill for Chaus.
Chaus and Dru worked on following flow for the entire day. Chaus would constantly spar with Dru. For a 2 meter tall beast, Dru was surprisingly nimble. The magus were known for their skill with magic, but they were also well versed in physical combat.
The longer Chaus sparred with Dru, the more proficient he became at following flow. By the end of the day, Chaus could follow flow 100% of the time.
Chaus sat down on the platform tired from training all day. He did nothing but spar the entire day and he was spent. Dru, on the other hand, didn't even break a sweat.
"Your spearmanship is improving rapidly. You're the second person to ever learn this spearmanship."
"Who was the first?" Chaus asked a question he already knew the answer to.
"Your father." Hearing it from Dru's mouth gave off a different effect than just knowing."Your father created that spearmanship after years of battle."
Pride and admiration welled up in Chaus's heart. "What's it called?"
Dru looked at Chaus. "He didn't name it."
Chaus's eyes widened. "Why not?"
"He left it for you. He wanted you to name it and finish it."
Chaus was shook. This was the legacy his father left behind for him. Chaus felt an unidentifiable feeling.
After a while, Chaus began thinking. If the unfinished version of Carnak's spearmanship was this powerful. How powerful would it be if it was finished?
Chaus decided to name Carnak's spearmanship. Chaus remembered the first time he saw Carnak in action. He remembered the blood that followed every strike of Carnak's spear, the fear the giants felt, and the power Carnak gave off. He decided to call it 'Spear of the Blood Emperor.'
For the rest of the week, Chaus trained with Dru's guidance. Chaus improved rapidly throughout the week. Out of all his skills, Chaus's Spear of the Blood Emperor improved the most. This was mostly due to the fact that Chaus placed the most importance on it since it was a legacy left to him by his father.
Chaus's Dragon Steps reached the upper beginner stage and neared the intermediate stage while his Spear of the Blood Emperor reached the pinnacle of the beginner stage. His soul also showed improvement as it reached the upper stages of the revolution stage.
Dragon Steps and Spear of the Blood Emperor were skills. There were four stages for skills. Beginner, intermediate, advanced, and pinnacle. Within each stage, there were 4 ranks. Lower, middle, upper, and pinnacle.
Tomorrow Chaus will fight 64 ziki. He was more than prepared to take them on. With his current abilities, Chaus could be said to be invincible in physical combat against others in the same soul stage.
The next day
Chaus swung his spear in an arc. The ziki shrieked in pain as it was cut in half from the waist.That was the last one.
With the disappearance of the ziki, the door on the platform also disappeared. It was time for Chaus to move up the staircase.
After learning soul integration, Chaus could easily climb the staircase. He quickly climbed to the 5,000th meter and reached the third platform.
The third platform held nothing on it. No food, no water, nothing.
The space fluctuated besides Chaus and Dru appeared. Chaus was jealous.
"When will I be able to do that?"
Dru spoke in a short manner. "A few years. Maybe a decade."
Chaus nodded. He was still far from Dru's level. Chaus turned serious and asked the most pressing question on his mind. "This platform?"
"You'll be creating everything on your own. You're going to learn actual magic."
Chaus looked forward to learning magic. "I'm guessing we start now?"
Dru smiled. "I assume you already know the basics?"
Chaus nodded in response.
"Then you know the fundamental rule of magic: Equivalent exchange. Anything can be done with magic as long as you have enough soul energy to cast it. If you don't have enough soul energy, you can use objects in replacement to cast magic."
The air fluctuated and a dragon stone appeared in Dru's hand. "Take this stone for example. This stone holds an immense amount of energy and can be used for spell casting."
Chaus could feel the energy emanating from the stone. Before Chaus was too weak to feel anything from the stone, but now he could feel a plethora of energy from the stone.
"In the current Tsirgia, there are mainly two roles in combat. Magicians and warriors. There are many sub-roles within each role. A few examples for magicians are healers, supporters, and strikers. A few examples for warriors are swordsmen, spear men, and archers. There are more sub-roles, but those are the most common."
"In the past, there were many who walked down the path of a magic warrior, but after the language of the world closed off to humans, many chose to undertake one path. Now, only those with immense talent walk the path of a magic warrior."
Compared to the other two roles, a magic warrior is far superior and stronger. However, few people can successfully walk down one role let alone two. In ancient times, the language of the world allowed people with no talent in magic to cast powerful magic. Now that the language of the world is gone, magic became weaker and fewer people walked the path of a magic warrior.
"Now it's time for you to choose your path."