Wulin and Karni were in Wulin's Smithy, which was really Wulin's teacher's smithy that Tang Wulin had basically made his own. They were looking at four pieces of Deep Sea Spirit Lead.
Four. Each half a kilogram heavy. Surprisingly large in size compared to their weight.
"Based on size…" Karni started.
"Three will be needed to shape the head piece. All four if you want a helmet, though it might be too little still." Tang Wulin finished.
"I'll make a crown." Karni nodded. "It's better if you get familiar with Honey Spirit Alloy first. You'll have one chance to try."
Tang Wulin sighed. "I'll try my best. I'll refine the Thousand-Refinements first alone. Then I'll try the alloy. The first process will take a while, but I need to get familiar with the metal and the process in forming an alloy. When I go at it for real, I'll refine and form an alloy at the same time. The result should be better if I do that."
Karni took out his Martial Soul. "We have one try to test things out. I'll be listening to the metal too. I can make the best blueprint if I know how the alloy works."
"I don't mind, of course," Wulin said. "We've done this before. Let's get to it."
Tang Wulin grabbed his Heavy Silver, Golden coloured hammers, and took one of the pieces. He placed the Deep Sea Spirit Lead in the furnace.
Karni already activated his third Soul Ring, listening to how the metal would react to heat. He was inwardly surprised. He could hear the changes better than in the last semester. The practice with Yun Ming really did deepen his understanding of Sound.
In only 4 minutes, Tang Wulin pulled it out. That was way too fast for most metals, but Deep Sea Spirit Lead was unique. It had some attributes connected to water, particularly its adaptability, and was highly spiritual. It made the mass of the metal surprisingly small. Any more heating and it would be destructive to the metal.
Wulin hit it with a moderate amount of strength—moderate strength for an average Blacksmith. Tang Wulin's meaning of "moderate" was quite different compared to others. To Tang Wulin, these were light taps.
Karni listened attentively. The "light" taps caused a big change. The tapping became even lighter. Restructuring started, and Karni couldn't help but stare at Tang Wulin. This guy progressed in his strength control. The difference in tone between individual hammer hits was almost non-existent. It was perfect.
As the metal changed in both shape and structure, Tang Wulin's hammer suddenly hit with strength. The mass had already increased, yet Tang Wulin didn't raise the tempo steadily, he changed it completely.
The qualitative change was enormous. The metal practically sang back to Wulin, enjoying the strength. It was like the spiritual property within the metal was being squished. Fused. Refined.
Karni wasn't aware, but Wulin's tempo changed once Wulin reached 100 refinements. All Karni knew was that a qualitative change happened.
Now the tempo started to increase. Not in power, but in speed. Precise hits, controlled to hit each part twice over.
The speed was rising, but the power did not. The power stayed the same. It was almost uncomfortable to listen to. Usually, when something became faster, it also became louder, more powerful.
But not this. It was monotone, just faster.
And then… Tang Wulin hit a final time, and a halo appeared above the metal.
"Of course you get 1st Grade Refinement on your first try."
Wulin looked back at Karni, grinning. He slowly took out Honey Titanium and put it in the furnace.
Karni had watched Wulin refine Honey Titanium multiple times—Wulin had made all the metal needed for the arm pieces of Karni's Battle Armour. He had decent practice. Yet Tang Wulin wasn't going about this as before. The heating was slower than usual.
Karni closed his eyes, quickly understanding what Tang Wulin was doing. The both of them listened. They compared the heating of one and the other metal. Sensing and understanding the differences.
Once appropriately heated, Wulin took it out of the furnace. The proceeding forging was performed differently than usual as well. Milder.
Wulin had the recipe for the fusion of Honey Titanium and Deep Sea Spirit Lead into an alloy. It was called Honey Spirit Alloy: an alloy of high spirituality, that used the most important aspect of Honey Titanium, flexibility.
But only knowing the recipe wasn't enough to actually forge the alloy. One needed to be familiar with the metal, their differences, and their common points to forge it successfully.
And with Karni being the way he was about designing, he wanted to create a design which would flow smoothly with properties of the alloy. He needed to understand the alloy's properties too. It's what made his designs of a higher quality.
Wulin finished Honey Titanium with a standard manner, noting the differences, as well as memorising what he had to watch out for when forging the alloy. He put the two metals together, wrapping them with turquoise liquid—part of the recipe. Karni wasn't familiar with it.
He put the group of Thousand-Refined Metal in the furnace, and a sizzling sound was heard. Karni and Wulin focused again.
After 10 minutes, the metal was taken out, and Wulin started hammering. More intense than previously. These were now Thousand-Refined, both 1st Grade, allowing Tang Wulin to test the metals with greater strength.
He struck and struck, while Karni listened. Indeed, there was harmony between the two metals. Compatibility. Karni felt some of the odd frequencies meddling in the liquid Wulin applied earlier, forming a new frequency which slowly started taking over the whole piece of metal. Nuances of the Sound only Karni could hear; yet changes only Wulin felt directly.
The Sound of the whole piece started to change, more and more of the two metals fused under the influence of Wulin's forging and the liquid.
The fusion was steady, if somewhat slow. It quickly enveloped more than half of the clump of metal. Wulin sped up, his familiarity increasing. The parts which had fused now influenced the bits which had yet to.
With an increasing tempo, Karni's eyes flashed gold for a slight moment. Tang Wulin finished with one final hit, and Karni saw a golden silhouette over Wulin. His adult version, sparkling of all shades of gold. Almost like a golden rainbow. The shape vanished soon after, and the fusion was completed. The Honey Spirit Alloy was formed.
Wulin put the hammers on the table, tension leaving his shoulders. "So. Think you have enough info to make your design?"
Karni nodded, leaving what he saw for later to think about. "Yeah, I remember the optimum frequency you had when forging the alloy. I'm gonna base it off of that."
"Most optimum… frequency?" Wulin looked confused. It was the first time Karni said something like that.
"Yeah… The point when the fusion was happening most smoothly." Karni answered, thinking. He couldn't hear such nuances before either.
Wulin stared at Karni for two seconds. "Can you let me hear it?"
Karni stared back. He reactivated his third Soul Ring. "Sure." He closed his eyes and focused on imitating the sound exactly. It wasn't a problem for him. A Sound, which was sort of high pitch with somewhat soft vibrations, was released.
"Hm. Got it. It was around the 60 percent completion mark. I'll keep it in mind."
"You sure you won't forget?" Karni asked.
Wulin nodded. "I'll be fine. I'll look for special commissions to practise on creating Honey Spirit Alloy."
Karni looked at him weirdly. "You can just… look for commissions?"
"Well, no, but I have my ways."
Karni felt a chill. That was the face of a scammer. The elder that taught Wulin was likely going to suffer soon.
"When do you think you'll finish the design?" Wulin asked, putting his schemes on a back burner for now.
Karni thought about it. "Three weeks."
Wulin waved his hands. "That's fine then. I'll have more than enough practice by then."
… … …
Karni knocked on Siduo's room. It was just before the sunset.
Siduo opened the door, a bit surprised to see Karni waiting for him. "You finished with Wulin?"
Karni nodded. "I'll start drafting the design tomorrow, I already know how I'm gonna go about it, but before that… I promised you a date didn't I?" Karni offered his arm.
Siduo's eyes widened a bit. "W-Wait a minute. I'm not prepared at all! I thought you were joking. Gimme 20 minutes."
"Sisi," Karni held her hand and pulled her out. "I don't really care about what you look like. I invited you out because, well, you're you."
Siduo put her other hand over her eyes in embarrassment. She released a deep breath. "Fine. First official date is then. Spontaneous."
"I think that fits us best," Karni smiled.
Siduo pinched him. "So, where are we going."
"Uhhh." Karni scratched his head. "I kinda rushed here as soon as I finished with Wulin. Didn't have time to plan."
"You klutz." Siduo knocked on his head. "Well, I guess it's time to improvise." It was she who now pulled him out of the dorm area.
Leaving the academy grounds, the two entered the city area. By the time they got to the centre, the sun had already set. They looked around the city. Holding hands, feeling like actual teenagers for a change. They were grown ups on inside, but they decided to indulge these feelings for today. If not now, then when?
The night was busy… then again, Shrek City was always busy. People went out to drink, despite there not being any special events. It was like New York back on Earth.
The two stopped simultaneously. A shop, which was brimming with nostalgia for them. Huo Yuhao's Grilled Fish.
"I remember us having a certain conversation in the Star Luo City branch of this restaurant." Karni snickered.
"Don't remind me." Siduo groaned, remembering her actions back then. "At least I apologised."
"And I forgave you. So, how about some delicious dinner?"
The two entered the restaurant smelling of delicious food just waiting to be eaten.
They sat down at a table for two and looked at each other. A flush of embarrassment flashed through them. It only now started to feel like a real date. And for once, in what might be years of the two always joking together, discussing serious topics together, or just vibing out together… They didn't know what to talk about.
So they sat in awkward silence, every now and then glancing at each other, before looking away, as if they haven't had a whole another lifetime of experience. Love was weird. It made one act uncharacteristically.
The two were startled as food was put on the table. ""Thanks."" Both of them said at the same time.
They looked at each other and laughed. "Is it the fact it's an official date that makes this so awkward?" Karni laughed.
"Probably. Only you can make me feel like an actual teenager again. So confused."
Karni raised his eyebrow. "Confused?"
Siduo thought about it. "Wrong word. 'Unsure' would have been better. Indecisive. Wanting to pounce, yet knowing it's wrong." She shrugged.
"Now that I get." Karni ate his first piece of food, savouring the taste. It was difficult to keep a steady mind. A teenage mind was often horny, but they were adults in mind, so it felt wrong to have these feelings.
He heard Siduo from across the table. "Oof. It's hot! Feels like flames in my mouth."
"You feel like it's hot? You have a scorching meteor for one of your skills." Karni laughed. "Oh, and also that new ability. Those look like flames too."
"Hmm." Siduo took a while to answer, chewing the piece of food, then swallowing. She pointed at him with a fork. "That's not completely right. Those are just pure energies. The reason they look like that is because they're dissipating while I cause friction between the two energies."
"Makes for a cool look though." Karni praised. "Imagine looking like a flame as a whole. That would be cool."
"Actually," Siduo said with a cheeky smile. "That's exactly the goal I envisioned. I just don't have the control yet."
Karni paused. "Wait. You envisioned it? This wasn't something you got from Elder Long?"
"Well, yes and no. She taught me how to mix energies and make them into an explosive bomb. It was the first thing I learned. Me putting energies across my whole body is my own idea. I have to mix my Martial Souls to a degree. On the other hand, The Yin Yang Bomb can be done with only the energies—without my Martial Soul. Look here."
Siduo summoned a little bit of Yang energy, and a pure white layer enveloped her hand. It was small in size so she wouldn't bring attention to the restaurant goers. This formed into a small ball. "I would add the Yin energy to this… and it would go boom."
Karni thought about it. "Wouldn't that harm you too? Or can you send the energy out and make it explode at a later time."
"That is the way, yeah. It's what my teacher can do. I can't yet. That's why I made my own version that I could actually use. My thing is not damaging, because I don't cause explosions, just friction for better impact. Well, technically it's a bunch of tiny explosions I direct away from myself."
Karni kept eating his food while thinking about it. "So you need to become more powerful? I'm guessing you need more Soul Power to limit the two energies better. Then you can spread that flaming layer and the bomb can be thrown."
"Actually," Siduo dragged the word. "It's not about my Soul Power at all. The energies are potent enough that they use it only as fuel. I can't limit them with it. My problem is balancing the energies out."
Karni looked at her, realising her problem. "Your White Tiger has more rings… and also evolved a decent amount since Solaria joined you."
Siduo sighed and nodded. "Exactly. I should get my fourth Soul Ring sometime this semester, one that counters Solaria well."
"A cat with a moon property." Karni added.
Siduo nodded. "But enough about abilities. How did we get into power talk? We're not in school. We're having a date!" Siduo grabbed a piece of food and pointed it at Karni.
Karni stared at the piece of food. "Really?"
"Eat."
Karni took the food out of the offered fork. "This feels weird."
Siduo took a moment. "Yeah. I thought I'd be more excited."
"Let me try." Karni now took the food and offered it to Siduo.
She took a bite. "It does feel weird."
Karni nodded. "It does, but you looked funny doing it."
"Of course I did." Siduo took a chunk out of her own food again. "I always look funny."
Karni raised his eyebrows. "That wasn't a comeback, it was a self-roast! Who are you and what did you do to my Sisi?"
"Happens when you're isolated for two months." Siduo laughed. "I don't mind giving you a few wins every now and then."
The two finished their date satisfied and full of joy. They held hands as they walked back to the dormitories.
"Say," Siduo started talking. "I watched that fight with Xie Xie. Why did you pause at the end?"
Karni sighed. "It was a half vision. Xie Xie's body overlapped with his adult version. I was confused, hence why I paused a bit."
"Mid-fight vision? Do you know why?"
"Likely due to my deeper understanding of my Martial Soul and the Sound. I had a similar vision today of Wulin while forging—also seeing his adult version. I think my understanding is causing flashes. I just hope it doesn't happen in some unfortunate timing next time."
"I guess you need to learn some control too." Siduo smiled. "Both of us need to find a balance." She raised his hand and stretched it.
"What's that supposed to be?" Karni looked confused, but happy.
"A scale, you know, to balance things out?"
Karni kept the hand raised up but shook his head. "If that's a scale, then I'm a bicycle."
"Ooh. Let me ride you." Siduo smiled.
Karni looked at her. She looked at him. He just stared at her. "At least wait until we're eighteen."
Siduo snickered. "I knew you couldn't resist."
Karni just shook his head. He really couldn't. "Anyway, I don't really know how to balance out my Sound."
Siduo stopped and stepped in front of him. "Well, do you know how to continue your understanding?"
Karni looked at her with a small smile. "I do actually. I think. I'm thinking of fusing Disordered Drumstick Resonance and Resonant Spiral Force. The new and old techniques combined."
"In that case, you'll be fine." She returned next to his side and the two continued towards the dorm area while holding hands, though they didn't hold them in that weird pose anymore.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Siduo facepalmed. "Teacher Mo asked me to tell you we should come to the Tang Sect tomorrow, he didn't say why."
"After my Mecha Piloting class then." Karni nodded.
"Oh right, that's tomorrow too. I have my own engineering class to go to."
The two sat down at a bench for a while more, just chatting. Time passed too fast at times like this.
It didn't feel long for their date to reach its end. A fun, pleasant, and simple night out.
They stopped in front of Siduo's dorm room, standing outside it for a while.
Siduo turned to Karni and looked at his face. Eyes which Karni could swear were radiating light. She was… beautiful.
And Siduo… was having the exact same "problem". She stared into his eyes, which seemed so big and inviting and loving.
The two felt magnetised to one another. Neither wanted to separate. This night was impulsive, but it was theirs.
And their heads seemed magnetised as well. The two closed in… and Siduo moved his face to the side and kissed his cheek.
Karni was a bit surprised, but laughed, then kissed her cheek as well.
Siduo let go of his hand, smiling with a slight blush. She opened her door and gave him one last look. "You'll get the real thing at a more… suitable opportunity. A less spontaneous one."
Karni nodded. "I think I should be more mentally prepared as well." He smiled and said his goodbye.
But Karni stayed in front of the room for some time more, just… gushing over the situation.
It took him a while to return, this night was just so comfortable.
… … …
"Alright focus. I know how Soul Masters speak of Mecha Piloting. Especially here in Shrek. That we do NOT NEED MECHAS! Well I call bullshit. It is true, Battle Armour can be objectively better, but adding a Mecha on TOP of it is also, OBJECTIVELY better! More protection! More variety! More attack power!" The teacher was teaching passionately. If passion could equate screaming at least.
Karni looked at Tang Wulin, who gave him a similar look. This teacher was weird. Both of them then looked to Xu Lizhi, who was also getting second-hand embarrassment. The three of them were the only ones who decided to take Mecha Piloting classes from their little group.
Though there were a few people from their class here as well. One of which was Liu Liu. The student of the Orphanage Headmaster herself.
Karni and Wulin were excited to fly the mecha. Wulin admired them since he was young, and Karni… well how couldn't he be excited? This technology did not exist on Earth. But this teacher? This teacher was extra. It wasn't hard to guess what kind of a person the man was: a proud mecha pilot, likely highly skilled, but with a good degree of an inferiority complex, likely due to the fact he was teaching mecha piloting in Shrek Academy of all places.
"All right then, watch! I'll only show this once. This is Mecha Piloting 101. Those who cannot do the basics by the end of today's session can come find me after classes for extra teaching. Here." He threw some cards at them. Everyone picked up one.
This guy was odd. They only get one chance to watch, but there were extra classes available. Was he strict or nice? Karni read the card. The Soul Communicator number was written on it alongside: "Extra classes for only 100 contribution points."
Karni looked at Wulin. "Looks like your kindred spirit."
"Oh come on, even I'm not that shameless."
"You found a kindred spirit, Captain." Xu Lizhi reinforced Karni's comment.
Wulin gave up. "I found a kindred spirit." He didn't sound too happy about it. But he had to admit. He'd do the same thing. Money was life!
The teacher stepped into a mecha. A simple mecha, one of many on the field. A basic mecha was better to teach in than a well-furnished one. It was clumsier, and rougher to control, which meant that it was great at giving one foundation.
"Before one can run, they must first learn how to walk. First thing to do, strap into the belt. It's not ordinary, it is used to read your own movements. Strap in your legs and arms as well, those are used for basic functions. Now, as you move…" The cockpit of the mecha was open for the students to see. He moved his arm, and the mecha did the same.
The mecha made a few simple movements. Walking, running, stretching. "For any more advanced movements, you'll have to combine the basic movement reading with all the functions, switches and buttons that the cockpit uses. Today we'll only be focusing on movement for legs, arms, and being able to hold a weapon."
Then the teacher took a big breath and sighed. "And… if anyone wants to pilot a full console mecha, without moving their body, we have those as well. But it is less efficient, and the times have moved away from those old designs." He looked around and was glad to see that no student wanted to learn the old ways.
"Good, then, grab a mecha. GO!"
All the students took one of the mechas. Karni was no different.
He moved the arms lightly, focusing on the feel—spiritually focused on the movements. He had made a mecha before for the first semester exam. But he never even learned to use it properly. He only used it as a one-time block against Siduo's attack.
Meanwhile Tang Sect offered a few lessons for mechas, but he never really took those either.
Karni knew how everything was supposed to work. The joints, the connections. He designed prosthetic muscles after all. Of course he knew how it worked… but only in theory.
He wiggled the legs for a bit, feeling how they affected the movements of the whole mecha. "Alright, alright. I think I got this."
As the teacher said, he first started with a simple walk. He moved his legs slowly. His own Soul Power connected to the rest of the mecha's body. There was a sense of loose, parallel muscles that Karni felt connected to his own muscles constantly.
"I could improve on that." Was Karni's first thought, before he shook his head. Of course he could. This was just a basic mecha. He'd have to see a more advanced one to see how good the technology was.
He walked, and walked, before going into a fast walk, a slow run and a full run by the end of about 30 minutes of training. He didn't fall once. The only other person like that was Tang Wulin. And surprisingly, Liu Liu as well.
Wulin and Karni even discussed it a bit after they finished the basic training. That loose feeling of muscles and moving them was intense for both of them. And both of them had great skill at controlling their bodies. Wulin's control over his body was immense due to Body Sect techniques. He was better than Karni. But Karni was good as well, mostly due to his incredible sense of balance from Drunken Ghost Dance.
Karni was guessing that Liu Liu had either learned before, or her Martial Soul somehow gave her an edge. He didn't really know the exact characteristics of Liu Liu's Sculpting Cube outside of the fact it countered Space to a degree. Perhaps that was the key aspect.
Karni didn't interact much with the girl. It was Siduo who was her actual friend more than Karni.
"Alright, now that most of you are able to run, let's get to holding some weapons." The teacher pointed to a giant stack of weapons. There were three pairs of each weapon. Though most of them were different types of swords, there were also spears and blunt weapons. "Choose whichever you like."
Wulin was one of the first to choose, grabbing hammers. Karni was slightly surprised, thinking he'd choose the spear. Then he remembered that Wulin had yet to get to any spear training. There was no reason for him to choose a spear yet.
Karni looked over the weapons. At first, he felt drawn over to the Bo Staff. It's what he was used to, right? Well, he stopped himself. He rarely actually used the thing as a Bo Staff. In fact, it was one of his sloppiest skills. He used the Sound, not the Bo Staff itself.
He tried training in only using the staff, but he never progressed out of the semi-advanced movement. He never really felt a connection to a Bo Staff like weapon. And a similar problem was happening with the Drumsticks now. One would think, with how much he used the form, he would get some understanding of it.
He did not. All of it was only Sound. Yet more mysteries of his Martial Soul. How many were those now? Rule over Sound. Future sight. Those eight symbols. The form of the Martial Soul seeming not to matter, only Sound.
Dismissing his thoughts, he looked at other weapons… and stopped almost immediately. His eyes shined like those of a small child seeing chocolate. A giant sword, wide, half the size of a mecha's body. A Greatsword.
For a split second, Karni's memory flashed to the day before he arrived on Douluo Planet. In his home, behind the computer, he made a single made-up Martial Soul. The Guardian Greatsword. And this sword before him looked just perfect. Giant in size, wide enough to be both a shield and a mighty sword.
Ah, but no. He shouldn't. It didn't fit his style. This sword, while oh so… beautiful and mighty… it wasn't agile at all. Karni used the future, used Space, used Sound, he was a control system… oh but the sword did both defence and attack in perfect balance. Slow, wide swings, causing destruction, and protecting those behind it. Ah, but he just started learning new moves with the drumstick. There was also the staff. So many reasons he couldn't-
He was already holding the Greatsword.
"Shit. Damn you, feeling! Ah but it feels so nice!" He raised the sword, only to quickly have to readjust his balance. The sword was heavy. But Karni was Karni. He excelled at balance. He only needed a few seconds to figure out how to move with the giant sword, no more.
He felt so giddy. He always liked Greatswords. In all the games he played in his previous life, if they had a Greatsword he had a Greatsword. No wonder he had more than 500 hours in a certain monster hunting game.
He moved next to Wulin, who held two giant hammers. Next to them joined Xu Lizhi, with giant gauntlets. The most combat experience Lizhi had was with Tang Sect Techniques so that was what he chose.
Wulin stared at Karni's sword. "I didn't expect that."
Karni replied. "And I expected that." He pointed to the hammers. He lied, for he expected the spear instead.
Wulin swung them around a bit. "Yeah, took this for the start. I'll likely take the training course Tang Sect offers later though. Which means I won't be using these but long-range weapons."
Xu Lizhi chimed in. "I'll likely do the same. As a support, being far away in a mecha is even more important for me. Besides, Tang Sect specialises in long range mech battles."
Karni was silent for a second. "You think they have heavy duty close combat courses?"
The two turned to look at Karni. Wulin laughed. "You know, you really didn't look like the type."
"What type," Karni felt an insult incoming.
"The 'liking hunk stuff like a giant sword' type of guy."
Karni breathed out. It wasn't an insult. At least not to him. "Well, I actually really liked these types before my Martial Soul awakened. Might as well fulfil the dream in some way. If I'm not suited for it, I'll let it rest. But if I find some affinity…"
Karni didn't need to finish his words. Xu Lizhi and Wulin could imagine his glowing eyes behind the closed cockpit of a mecha.
"Alright kids! Listen!" The teacher clicked a button on a mecha, and from the field came a bunch of mecha sized training dummies. "You know what to do."
Xu Lizhi complained somewhat. "You know, this teacher—for all his presence—his teaching is surprisingly shallow."
"Well, it's the basics." Wulin answered him. "He'll likely guide us to make our own realisations once we get a handle on things. It's how Shrek works. It's how Teacher Wu Zhangkong goes about it as well. It's better if we feel it ourselves."
"It's better for you combat types maybe." Xu Lizhi snorted, before going to his own dummy. Wulin and Karni could tell that Lizhi would likely focus more on the Tang Sect course after this unless the classes offered teachings on long range combat too next time.
It was likely to happen. Today's purpose wasn't handling the weapon but understanding the handling of the arms. The best way to do that was exactly through some sort of a close combat weapon.
Karni took himself to a training dummy of his own. And he started swinging. He noticed a problem immediately. The weight of the sword was so heavy, that he had to constantly adjust the rest of the body so the mech would not fall. It was like the sword pulled him instead of the other way around.
But it reminded him of something. His classic technique and how he dealt with Siduo overpowering him. He used her momentum to rebalance himself. Used his own imbalance to counter. Yes. He might actually be able to use this.
He went into a stance imitating his usual Drunken Ghost Dance. He clenched the Greatsword and swung. The whole body shifted with the sword's weight, and his steps followed with it, prepared for the shift. The mecha, for a split second, was a diagonal position. Then he let the Greatsword swing back around, completing a circle, straightening out the mecha again. Unfortunately, all the momentum of the swing was lost with that.
Karni nodded to himself. This could work. He just had to get used to smoothing things out with this large body. He stopped moving for a second, repeating the needed movements in his mind. He knew exactly how this shift would work. He had ample experience with such moves. He just had to readjust his mind for the larger size and greater weight.
The teacher was about to comment on Karni not doing anything when he noticed the mecha move. The mecha swung with the giant sword, intentionally missing the dummy. The legs spun, the torso twisted, and the sword made a circle. The mecha was turning diagonally the whole time, and finally, hit the dummy with the force of the whole body. The teacher whistled, before moving onto other students which were actually having trouble. Karni clearly didn't need help.
What would he have thought if he saw Karni's face right now. Karni was frowning. He felt unsatisfied. He felt limited. He felt constrained.
The lead up was fine. He just didn't like the feeling. It left no room for further attacks. And Karni hated that. He was someone who combined moves into next ones, and those into further ones. He was constantly on the move, every defence becoming a counterattack as well.
But there were only a few things he could think to do with this giant weapon to keep his movement constant. He pulled the Greatsword out of the dummy. He tried hopping a bit, but the mecha could barely jump with that weight. Perhaps a stronger one could, but he didn't want to rely on such a thing. He wanted to figure it out with this basic mecha. If he figured out this, he'd be able to apply it to anything.
Jumping might be a no go—Karni turned to the dummy—unless something supported the mecha's weight. He did the spin again, smoother this time, slicing into the training dummy. The sword was nicely stuck. He jumped again. Yes. This was better.
He jumped over the Greatsword, still holding it. The arms twisted unnaturally, he had to make a quick adjustment. He landed on the other side uncomfortably, quickly releasing his grip. He quickly fixed the mecha's arm position. He'd have to smooth that out. A few hops over should be suitable training for this.
He gripped the sword again, though he let it stay stuck in the dummy. He jumped over again, readjusting the arm position mid jump. He landed on the other side, arms still slightly bent, but it was better than before.
"Hoo." Karni focused, knowing what to do, getting the feeling for the arm movement. He jumped over one more time, twisted the arms perfectly, before the sword got unstuck and Karni barely hit the landing.
"Note to self. The sword can get unstuck." He smiled. He didn't mind. He basically got it that time.
Now to check the actual purpose of jumping over it. He stuck the sword into the dummy one more time. Then he focused. He jumped over, landing and twisting his arms perfectly, then letting the momentum carry him, pulling the sword out and swinging it again in a wide circle. He hit the dummy one more time.
His mecha was still. It stood in that position for a while.
Karni was silently celebrating inside the mecha. He needed to get the giddiness off. Now for one final try. To smooth it all into one movement.
He readied his stance, regripping the sword just to make sure he had a firm hold on it.
He swung, missing the dummy and letting the Greatsword imbalance him, then swung in a circle, rebalanced the mecha with the momentum and hit the dummy. He didn't stop. He immediately jumped over, adjusted the arms, landing and used the weight of the landing momentum to pull out the sword. Then he swung further.
It just… clicked. He understood it.
And the world turned golden. The cockpit turned golden, and his vision shifted to outside. A mecha, a decent chunk smaller than this one, wide and round with wings. Wings that felt like arms of the mecha. In the hands it held a mighty, greatly decorated Greatsword with a thin grip and a wide blade.
The golden colour vanished. Yet another random vision. But what was this one? It felt like the other visions, mixed with these new flashes. He focused on the surroundings. The mecha was sitting on the ground in a weird position. He stood back up.
Karni shook it off. He couldn't help it, not like he could understand it just by that. He was too excited. He felt the Greatsword. He knew the path forward. It was like the Greatsword was meant for him, like he created the Drunken Ghost Dance solely for this moment. He was convinced. He found his true weapon.