"Before we begin, put these on," Old-Man F orders as he reaches into his satchel and pulls out a bundle of clothes, which he tosses over to Khione and I.
"What's this?" I ask as I unravel my bundle of clothes, revealing a long-sleeve white gi and matching gi pants with short, torn sleeves and pant legs, a black a under-armor long sleeve turtleneck that covers our hands other than our fingers, black under-armor pants that cover our feet other than our toes and heels, black sandals, and with a navy-blue belt, a bright blue belt for Khione.
"Do we…HAVE to wear this…?" I ask as I lower my gi.
"You have to," Old-Man F smiles, "It's a training uniform."
"Alright…" I sigh, as I take off my old gray cloak that I've been wearing throughout my travels.
"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH!" Khione cries as she clutches the bundle tight to her chest, "What are you doing?!"
"Hmm?" I ask as I peer over at Khione while slipping on my black under-armor, "I'm changing?"
"In front of me?!" Khione snaps.
"Well there's no shelter out in this desert wasteland," I answer as I tie my white gi on.
"Alright, well…just don't look this way…" Khione sighs as she begins changing as well.
Once Khione and I have changed into our new outfits, Old-Man F places his hands on his hips as he looks us up and down, "Very good," Old-Man F smirks, "Now…let us begin."
"What are we going to start off with?" I ask.
"First off…I will have you try and find your own unique Charge Stance, Noah," Old-Man F answers.
"Alright, how do we do that?" I smirk.
"The same way that I taught Khione to develop her own Charge Stance," Old-Man F answers as he begins hopping up and down on the balls of his feet in order to warm up his old bones, "Since you don't have any memories, Noah, I am assuming that you don't have any particular 'stance' that feels familiar to you, so we'll try and develop a new one for you now."
Khione's eyes widen. "Look out…Noah…" She says.
"Hmm…?" I ask as I peer over at Khione.
"BY ATTACKING YOU!"
Instantly, Flint charges towards me at impressive speeds, then launches a fist towards me.
"Woah, he's fast for an old man!" I yelp.
"Just focus on defending!" Khione cries.
I bring my arms up to block, but before I can defend, Old-Man F jabs me in the gut, causing my eyes to widen as I spit up a glob of phlegm. The force of Old-Man F's punch is enough to send me crashing to the ground.
"What…just happened…?" I grunt.
"And THAT'S Old-Man F's strength WITHOUT E-Charging…" Khione sighs.
"That was WITHOUT E-Charging?!" I cry.
"Now, on your feet," Old-Man F orders as he holds a hand out to me, and I take it.
"Your training isn't over yet," Old-Man F continues as he helps me to my feet, and then, without another warning, he jabs me in the gut again, sending me flying backwards.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" I snap as I prop myself up on my elbows.
"Come," Old-Man F orders as he takes a fighting stance and brings his fists up, "I will continue to attack you until you find a stance where you feel comfortable E-Charging in."
Old-Man F then launches a punch to my face, which I nod to the right to dodge. Flint follows that attack up with a second punch, which I dodge by nodding to the left.
"Damn, you're slippery," Old-Man F grumbles as he launches another flurry of punches to my face.
"I've gotten used to being attacked by bandits constantly," I smirk as I duck under Flint's assault.
As the sun continues to set, Old-Man F continues to attack me, but throughout our one-sided battle, I'm hardly able to block or dodge his attacks, and I'm unable to counter-attack. And thus, once the sun has set, I still haven't made any progress.
I stand across from Old-Man F, huffing and puffing, with bruises and blood covering my body.
Old-Man F aims a snap-kick to my stomach. I attempt to bring my arms up to block, but I'm too tired and my arms barely move before Old-Man F's kick smashes into my stomach, sending me flying backwards, then landing on the ground in a cloud of dust.
"Stay strong, Noah!" Khione calls to me, "You got this!"
"And what are YOU doing?!" I snap as I turn to face Khione, which takes my attention away from Old-Man F, earning me a jab to my nose, which sends my head snapping to the side, blood squirting from my nose.
"Stay focused!" Old-Man F snaps as he launches a round-house kick to my gut.
"DAMMIT, I'm trying!" I snap as I take a small step backwards into a fighting stance so that only my left side is exposed to Old-Man F, keeping my weight fifty-fifty between my two feet. I chamber my right fist while bringing my left hand up, curling in my pointer and ring fingers, and extending my pointer and middle fingers and thumb out. And when I do, my eyes widen.
Old-Man F's round-house kick continues flying towards me, but before Old-Man F can smash his leg into my side, I block with my left hand.
"Good," Old-Man F smirks, "So you've found it."
"Yeah," I smirk back, "My CHARGE STANCE."
Old-Man F lowers his leg, and the two of us stand up to face one another.
"Good job, Noah!" Khione cheers.
"Now then-" Old-Man F begins to say, "-Let's move on to the next part of your training. Noah, resume your Charge Stance."
"Right," I reply as I resume my Charge Stance.
"Khione," Old-Man F orders, "I have a pop quiz for you."
"Oh!" Khione exclaims as she perks up.
"What should Noah do now?" Old-Man F asks, "In order to use his Water Charge?"
"Umm…Noah should concentrate on his body's internal processes," Khione exclaims, "His breathing…the flow of his blood…his tensing muscles…stuff like that, which will help Noah gather his strength."
"Good answer," Old-Man F replies as he flashes Khione a thumbs up.
A wide smile spreads across Khione's face. "THANK YOU, MASTER F!" Khione booms as she bows to Old-Man F.
"Now, Noah…do as Khione instructed," Old-Man F orders as he turns back to face me.
"Er…right," I reply as I close my eyes.
I take a deep breath in…then out…
"Focus…" I say to myself under my breath, "On my body…on my breathing…"
"Woah!" I hear Khione yelp, and when I open my eyes again, I find that my body is swirling and bursting with seafoam-green sparks of energy, like the color of my eyes.
"Woah!" I cry as I look down at my hands, "What…is happening?!"
"You're gathering your strength!" Old-Man F booms, "Now…use it to attack!"
"RIGHT!" I boom.
"WATER CHARGE!" I shout as I thrust my hand outwards, and a weak stream of water springs from my hands, then puddles at my feet.
Khione and Flint stare at me blankly.
"I did it!" I cry as a wide smile spreads across my face, "I did it!"
"THAT'S something to celebrate?!" Khione cries.
"Of course it is!" I answer as I excitedly turn to face Khione, "I E-Charged!"
"I suppose you did, but…that's not much better than what you've been doing before…" Old-Man F sighs with a face palm.
"Yeah, I know…" I sigh.
"Noah…how have you been using your Water Charge before?" Flint asks.
"I don't know!" I cry, "It just came naturally to me, like breathing!"
"Then why don't we keep doing that," Old-Man F orders.
"Because we can't!" I cry, "I've been using my water powers without E-Charging for years, and that's why I'm so weak! I need you to teach me how to fight as an E-Charger, Master Flint! I NEED to become stronger on our quest to save the world!"
"Very well," Old-Man F smirks as he resumes his charge stance, and sparks of Golden-tan energy burst from his body, "Then I shall teach you how to fight as an E-Charger. Noah! Khione! Our battle begins now! If you can land a spell on me, I will fulfill my promise, and allow you two to take as many breaks as you want during our quest!"
"Right!" Khione and I smirk.
"Alright, Noah!" Khione shouts as icy-blue sparks of energy begin to burst and swirl around her body, "I'll go on the offense, you back me up!"
"R-right…" I answer.
"Ice Charge, Level Two!" Khione shouts, "Solid Hammer!"
Khione swipes boht of her hands outwards, and subsequently, a giant block of ice forms in the air above Old-Man F's head, and begins falling down upon him.
"Woah!" I cry, "How did you do that?!"
"I simply froze the air above Master F's head," Khione smirks, "Although…it's about all I can do…"
Old-Man F smirks as he tilts his head upwards and aims a hand towards Khione's block of ice falling down upon him.
"It's been over the years, Khione, and you still haven't learned?" Old-Man F smirks, "YOUR LEVEL TWO SPELL WON'T WORK ON ME!"
"Sand Charge, Level Two: Sand Spear!" Old-Man F shouts as he launches a rapid-fire flurry of punches up towards Khione's block of ice, which subsequently fires spears of sand towards Khione's ice.
Old-Man F's spears of sand blast into Khione's ice block and demolish it, sending chunks of ice flying everywhere.
"Woah!" I cry as I bring my hands up to protect my face, but a chunk of ice still manages to clonk me on the top of my head, causing me to stumble backwards in a daze.
"Crap…" Khione grumbles as she stares up at her shattered block of ice.
"Sand Charge, Level One: Sand Clone!" Old-Man F shouts as he turns into sand then falls to the ground. A lump of sand then begins to rise out of the ground behind Khione and takes the form of Old-Man F, who karate-chops Khione on the back of her neck, causing the girl's eyes to roll into the back of her head, before falling face first into the sand.
"One of the first rules of E-Charger combat is to use our lower level spells first," Old-Man F explains, "You don't want to start off a fight with your higher level spells. Instead, you want to use lower level spells in order to hide just how many spells you have, as well as your strength. And then…you unveil your high-level spells as trump cards."
"Khione!" I cry.
"Now…to take care of you," Old-Man F says as he turns to face me.
"Oh no…" I flinch.
"Sand Charge, Level Two!" Old-Man F shouts as he resumes his charge stance.
"Sand Spear!" Old-Man F shouts as he launches a flurry of kicks towards me, firing off multiple balls of sand towards me with each kick.
"Alright, Noah, you can do this!" I whisper-shout to myself as I resume my charge stance.
"Water Charge-!" I begin to shout as I thrust a hand towards Old-Man F, but before I can even summon my water, Old-Man F's projectiles of sand blast into me.
"WAAAHHH!!!" I cry as I'm sent flying backwards, before landing on the ground in a cloud of sand.
"Noah…Khione…" Old-Man F sighs as he looks back and forth between his two pupils, "You two…are INCREDIBLY weak. Now get up! We will train until midnight!"