4 days later.
"Finally the C-rank. Those goons gave me quite the trouble." said Antonio as he submitted the proof of his tenth D-rank mission and got promoted. He then left the Adventurer's Guild building as he returned to his master's abode.
"Master, I have finally reached rank C!" said Antonio jollily to Katherine who while going towards her hut dully replied, "Well done, now let's get your real training started, as the hurdle from C rank to B isn't the number of missions you need to complete, but a breakthrough in your power."
Antonio instantly became more serious and agreed with his master. He wasn't really one to celebrate his current power but liked to strengthen himself more and more.
Katherine came out with 2 wooden spears and threw one for Antonio to catch, and said, "The spear moves you've learned till now were the basics, like bricks. It's time you utilize them to make a house, that is, to build your own path of spear, spar with me and spar with others. Think about what you could've done better after you're finished, but fight on instinct while we spar."
"Okay master", replied Antonio as he closed his eyes and began to visualize all the moves he has learned.
"Get ready", said Katherine as Antonio opened his eyes and signalled that he is ready.
Whoosh!
Katherine vanished from where she was standing and directly appeared behind Antonio, who seemed to have anticipated it and instantly turned back to counter. Katherine raised one eye as she continued to free her spear and parry.
Antonio moved his spear to the right to counter, but as he was about to, he suddenly stopped as another parry came his way.
"So you're actually able to tell where I intend to strike now. Nice, keep going," remarked Katherine as she changed position and slid towards Antonio's left and aimed for his legs. Antonio jumped in attempt to dodge as Katherine swung the back of her spear towards his head, which he barely stopped.
"Rely on your instincts, Antonio, trust your guts more than your sight." said Katherine as she jumped her way around him to attack his flank.
'Trust my instincts huh' pondered Antonio as he began to let loose of his brain trying to calculate where the next attack will be and let his body move on its own. To his surprise, he turned back and managed to block the attack, and begin his own array of attacks. What he didn't notice was the light gray glow surrounding him.
'Finally, he has begun his journey of building his own path towards mastery of the spear.' Katherine was glad that Antonio was able to cross the hurdle many failed at.
Crack!
"Time to stop" she said as the wooden spears broke. Antonio abruptly stopped and his state of mind changed and the glow surrounding him disappeared. She continued, "You have finally made the spear your own, but there is a long way to go. You have to make your art stronger, and the only way to do that is to train. Whether it be training in combat, or meditating and pondering on how to cover its weakness. From now on will your real training begin."
"Thank you master!" Antonio said gratefully and sincerely. He could feel that when he entered that state of mind, his body seemed to get stronger, he wondered whether he would be able to defeat Liam in his current state. 'Now that I think of it, I didn't train my body that much, why did I feel that strong earlier?', he couldn't help but ask about this.
"The reason that you felt so is the same reason I told you to tread your own path. As we martial-artists get stronger and gain enlightenment in our field of expertise, we start to develop something similar to a mage's mana, we call it QI. The more we progress in our path, the more refined our Qi gets. It doesn't just run out like a mage's mana though. It strengthens us till we fight. There are wondrous way to utilize it, which you will learn during our training sessions." informed Katherine as Antonio's eyes seemed to glow.
'I can finally be as strong as those elementalists who teased me back in the village. I will show them that even though I may not have a talent as an elementalist, I can be as strong as one' though Antonio full of determination.
Meanwhile, at James' house.
'What is this kid?! The way he introduced the wind element and with how pathetic uses he thought it had, I never imagined he would be this much of a monster!' thought James as he looked at the fields which were a wreck by now. The grasses were cut unevenly but uniformly. They were tall then short, tall-short and a boy whose eyes were green which were turning back to brown, with black hair and a slightly pale complexion.
"I did it, master! I controlled the wind's speed, so it cut one part then just breezed past another!" exclaimed Kalmin happy of his progress. He had gotten to learn wonderful uses of the element he wielded, and it opened his eyes to a wonderful new reality.
"Now, now, don't get too excited. You still have much to learn. When I was your age, I had learned to do this within 10 minutes, not an hour. Try harder next time." said James as he half lied and half told the truth. 'I can now see why a man as withdrawn from people as Adir would scout him.
"Master I am sorry to have disappointed you" said Kalmin as James almost spouted blood, but he replied, "Don't take it to heart kid, not everyone's as good as you. You're not half bad, just a bit worse than me."
"Thank you master." said Kalmin as he bowed and showed his appreciation. 'Even though I am probably a lot less talented than other people, master still cares about me and allows me to train under him' he thought as his eyes showed immense gratitude.
"Ahem, now that you have learned how to avoid friendly fire. It's time you learn how to utilize the wind element to attack and defend simultaneously. Wait here and let me get some training dummies." said James as he returned 4 seconds later with plenty of dummies of different sizes." Now, let's begin", he said as Kalmin's training resumed.
In Tamen, near Orion
"It is confirmed, only the dukes have been spotted recently, and workers have been disallowed from entering the king's bedroom. The king is not there sir one" said a man cloaked in a dark cloth.
"Let's begin then", said the man who had been referred to as Number one, as he looked at the force before him.