That's a lot of confidence coming from someone who can't do it himself, Tymon thought.
"Yeah, I'm ready," he said.
Immediately, the black orbs began chasing Tymon.
Tymon found it surprisingly easy to move around while flying. He simply thought about the direction he wanted to go, and that's the direction he flew in.
The difficulty was in split-second maneuvering. He was trying to outfly the black orbs, not fly into the wall while avoiding the red orbs. Add in the fact that the black orbs were smart enough to try cutting off his path sometimes, and it became clear to Tymon how much of a challenge this would be.
Sooner than he preferred, he ran into a red orb that refused to let go. As he continued to fly, it grew heavier by the second, and the other red orbs homed in on him. The weight became so much that he couldn't stay airborne any longer, resulting in him plummeting into the water.
While in the water, the orbs grew lighter, then let go and descended deeper into the pool, where they entered pathways meant for them.
After watching the last orb disappear, Tymon noticed that although he was underwater, he didn't feel the urge to breathe. He wasn't breathing underwater like a fish, he wasn't breathing at all, yet his body felt completely fine.
That's new. He thought to himself.
The floor closed when he flew back up, and the others entered the room.
Alissia handed Tymon a towel to help dry himself with.
"You should probably start changing clothes before coming here," she said, smiling.
"You've done well for your first time flying," Mr. Heart said, praising Tymon. "Once you've mastered flying, you'll no longer need to create an aura, but we've found it easiest to teach you all this way."
Tymon's next training also took place in the same room. Mr. Heart led Tymon to one of the room's walls. As they approached it, a portion of the wall rose, revealing a robot similar to Trik but taller and with legs.
"For your final training task of the day, you will use all the knowledge you learned from the previous training to try to defeat the combat droid," Mr. Heart said as he quickly examined the droid. "You will also simultaneously learn how to use your spirit energy more proficiently and learn how to use basic techniques like spirit enhancement and omni-vision fluidly. The droid has ten levels of difficulty; level 1 is with the skill level of an average human, and level 10 is with the skill level of 1,000 high-level Watchers like my brother you met earlier. For you, we will begin at level 3. To pass, you must outmaneuver or overpower it and then pull the green ribbon from his back. Would you like to give it a shot?"
"No, I think I've grasped my current skill level. I'll hold off on getting beaten up by a robot until I've officially begun training," Tymon replied.
"I understand. By the time you reach level 10 of the combat droid, you will not only have mastered flying, unlocked your dormant instincts, and will be in complete control of your spirit energy, but your strength, speed, and durability will also have bolstered. You'll feel like a new person! For now, get some rest. There are many empty rooms around; feel free to choose one to stay in," Mr. Heart said.
He began tending to the droid as Alissia, Trik, and Tymon left the room. Alissia showed Tymon to a nearby room he could use. Once Tymon had showered, he fell asleep thinking about the training ahead.
* * * *
It was now September. I'd been watching Tymon's training progress incredibly. He spent most of the previous two months training during the day, and sometimes I could hear him talking to Za'Fia at night. He'd tell her about all the interesting things he could do, like not needing to breathe or having not bled once during his training, while I thought to myself, I'm pretty sure she already knows.
I wasn't spying; I'd just be heading to or finishing a little training of my own.
Around the one-month mark, Tymon passed the first training. He said he suddenly realized one day that his reflexes were so quick that my uncle appeared in slow motion. His body was so fast that he could easily dodge each of the World Champion's attacks.
Then, just a few days ago, he completed the second training with the orbs. He told us flying was like breathing now, and he didn't need to create an aura around him to do it anymore. Now, he only had to will the energy within him to defy Earth's gravity. So, when he was zipping around the orbs for three hours, split-second maneuvers no longer delayed him.
Today, he was facing the combat droid at level 8. From the looks of it, it was challenging. The droid was remarkably strong and made from cindium, so no matter how hard Tymon hit it, it wouldn't take any damage. It also had an infinite energy source, so it never grew tired. Meanwhile, after six hours of nonstop fighting, Tymon appeared as if he was feeling tired, and the droid had him on the defensive.
Tymon's training shirt had been ripped when he escaped one of the droid's grips, so he was shirtless now, which made focusing on the fight a bit more challenging. Alissia noticed his body was slightly larger than when they first met. He was still lean and muscular, but he seemed somehow fuller now...
My thought was disrupted when Tymon was suddenly kicked hard enough to send him crashing into the floor. As Tymon was getting up, he exposed his back. The droid spotted this and shot toward Tymon, ready to connect a decisive blow.
To everyone's surprise, a pair of majestic black wings with white-tipped feathers emerged from Tymon's back and blocked the droid's punch.
"He has wings?!" I shouted.
My dad was frozen in a state of astonishment. He stared at Tymon as his eyes grew wide.
Tymon took advantage of the confusion, whacked the droid his wing, causing it to start spinning, and skillfully yanked the ribbon from its back. By the time the droid stopped spinning, it was already powered down.
"Unbelievable....We've had it all wrong!" My dad said excitedly. "We've had— He's never been just a wolf...we assumed he was because of his partial transformation's wolfish features, and he's never displayed any wings, but he's something much more unique than that. He's a pterolycus...."
"A what," I asked, confused.
"A pterolycus – a winged wolf. The myths behind them are scarce. Some speculate that they play a large role in maintaining balance in the world's population of its creatures. Considering what we know of him and what occurred when he disappeared, I'd say that bit is true, don't you think?"
My dad and I went into the room.
As my dad approached Tymon, I input a command for the droid to return to its hangar in the wall.
"Wings!" My dad exclaimed. "Do you mind if I examine them?"
"No, go ahead," Tymon replied.
"So, wings, huh? Who knew, right? How do they feel," I asked him.
Tymon shook his shoulders as he spread out his wings. With the sweat glistening on his body, he looked like an angel from heaven if heaven had adult entertainers.
"I'm not a fan of them," he commented. "They feel natural, but they're heavy and restricting."
My dad finished examining Tymon's wings. He asked for the gift Tymon received so he could make some adjustments. After leaving with the box, Tymon flew around the room with his wings until my dad returned with the box.
Tymon was done with training for the day, but he decided to stay back and practice flying with his wings.
I, on the other hand, spent the rest of the day talking to Viraa and hanging out with Trik.
* * **