"Aiden, are you trolling me?"
"Why?" Aiden asked as he stopped moving and looked at Will's face.
"You managed to learn everything that I could teach about dodging and blocking in ten days. There is no way you could do that unless you knew it before." Will said as he examined Aiden's face. "You are sweating to which means that whatever you will say next will be a lie.
"But that's because I have been training."
"Aha! So you have been just acting that you were training."
Aiden then moved forward and flicked Will's forehead with his index finger.
"Just shut up and teach me what I have to do next."
"That's the thing, I can't teach you anything else," Will said while sighing as he turned in the other direction. "I already taught you the basics. Now you should go ahead and find a master and make sure that it's a female who is a drop-dead beauty."
"…" Aiden could only look at his friend with a blank expression as a random theory entered his mind.
"Will, do you know about a planet named Earth?"
"Huh?" Will suddenly turned back with a confused expression as Aiden shook his head.
"Never mind, just forget about it." He said with a wave of his hands as a person in black suddenly appeared in the arena.
"By the way Aiden, you are the only person who knows yourself the best. Only you can figure out how you can use the basics and create something powerful." Will said at the last moment before vanishing as Aiden blinked in surprise.
"He actually told me something meaningful…" Aiden muttered as he looked at his feet.
His shadow extended behind him as he summoned it up to his hand. Like a video of water falling being reversed, the shadows flew up to Aiden's right hand.
Since he had practiced controlling shadows since he was a toddler, he could still use it. But one thing that Aiden wanted to know was a way in which he could use this ability to its potential.
'Shadow element is for stealthy moves but I have to find a way to use it in close combat.' Aiden then moved his right hand forward.
The shadows whipped forward till it stretch to the limits of Aiden's control which was ten meters. He then called it back before moving it forward.
Honestly, Aiden felt as though he was just doing some time pass.
Unless…
He suddenly called the shadows back and got into a battle stance. He took a deep breath before kicking straight with his right leg but instead of following it with another hit, Aiden stood completely still.
'This might work.' Aiden suddenly looked excited as he started training again.
To someone looking from the sidelines, it would look as though Aiden was just practicing his normal; techniques.
But unless they paid close attention to it, they won't see the shadows moving up and down his body. If it was actual close combat, Aiden would have been able to drop pieces of his shadows on the other person.
'There is another thing that I can do. I only need to use shadow walk for it.' He thought for a moment before he began practicing.
Since he already knew everything about shadow walk, he only had to implement everything. After two hours, he was able to use shadow walk again but his range only lasted for 3 meters.
But it was enough for what he wanted to try.
'But I need for someone to use it on.' Aiden thought as he looked at the bracelet on his wrist.
His mother had been busy recently that she had stopped coming to take him to the arena. The only people who now came to pick and drop him were the black-clothed shadow users.
'If I remember mother's words correctly, this place could be shaped into anything a person wants. Perhaps I can turn it into fake people who will fight me.' Aiden thought as he looked around the arena. 'Can you help me here system?'
[ Response Received ]
[ Analyzation Started ]
Ding!
[ Analyzation Successfully Completed ]
[ Yes host. I can help you. ]
'Then please go ahead and tell me how I can change this place into what I want.'
[ Place your hands on the ground host and channel your elemental energy into the ground. Think about what you want this place to have and it will work in that way. But be warned host, it will cost you 400 EE. ]
'No worries about that system.'
Aiden then placed his hands on the ground and closed his eyes. He focused on the palms of his hands as he started gathering his elemental energy there.
[ 400 EE has been consumed. ]
After hearing the system notification, Aiden thought about the specifics.
'I want targets on which I can practice.' His eyes then flew open as he heard movement.
Standing in front of him were five figures that had the same height and figure as Aiden. However, they were made from earth.
[ They are like robots in a tutorial. You can change their number, appearance, abilities, etc. depending on what you want. You just have to think about it. Think start when you want them to move, stop to pause, and end to make them vanish. ]
After getting to know all the commands, Aiden looked forward and took a deep breath. He first decreased the number of people to one for the time being.
"Start."
At his command, the earth person started moving. But it was moving in an artificial way.
But since Aiden only wanted to test whether his ability would work or not, a robot target was enough for it.
He dashed towards the robot while his shadows spread against his body. He jumped forward and started using the shadows of the rocky terrain.
Night was slowly approaching but the shadows were still visible. After he got near the shadow figure, Aiden jumped into the air and used his shadow walk.
He directly appeared behind the earth person and tapped its shoulder before moving backward. He then raised his hand as the shadows around the earth person's neck started to tighten around.
"Stop. That was way too easy." Aiden sighed as he hadn't gotten the results he had wanted.
Even though he had been able to see whether he could use the skill, it didn't make any big of an effect. After all, a robot was a robot.
[It's because you are fighting him in the tutorial mode. ]
'Really?" Aiden raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'Then I guess I will change it.'
[ Warning! ]
[ Removing the tutorial mode will give the figure/s created the ability to fight back. Injuries might be caused. ]
'Then that's good.' Aiden replied as he looked at the earth figure.
[ Tutorial mode has successfully been turned off ]
"Play."
The moment Aiden gave the command, the earth figure shot towards him. His reflexes kicked in as he moved away with his shadow walk and saw the figure following him.
'This is much better than I expected.' Aiden thought as his eyes followed the movement of the figure.
It was no longer moving like a robot whose movements could be predicted. It was instead moving like a real living being.
Which meant that Aiden could practice his fighting skills.