It was unbearable pain and for a moment his vision was blurred by tears. The wolf knocked him to the ground and was about to finish the job when he found himself being lifted into the air.
"Daisy, please heal him," asked David. Upon that request, a small plant emerged from the ground and slowly grew into a small tree with legs. His body was formed by tree trunks and looked like a straw doll.
Meanwhile, Kayden was beginning to come to his senses, and he felt his arm remodeling with frightening speed. His bones and muscles returned to their normal state before he stopped taking in the pain.
Sitting on the floor, it took him a few seconds before the shock wore off. That was traumatic. David was waiting for the boy to recover. Kayden got up and saw the wolf standing next to Cerberus. His body began to shiver involuntarily.
"Is that… fear?" Kayden looked down at his hand, which was shaking. Before David could say anything, Kayden opened his mouth. "Let's go again."
With that sentence, he picked up the katana that was on the floor, took a deep breath, and tried to concentrate. He knew he had to overcome his fears then and there, or he would likely develop permanent trauma to his psyche.
"Are you sure? We can take a break or wait for you to progress further in the ranks."
"No, I need to do this." Kayden would overcome his fears one way or another. He wasn't willing to have scars that could get in the way of his future.
" Cerberus, order the wolf to attack again." The wolf did the same thing again, and it was clear the beast had no ego. Even though she won the first match, she still opted for the safe approach.
This time, Kayden didn't lunge at the beast abruptly and tried to wait for its mistake. He also tried to show initiative with a few false steps to the sides. It appeared to be a game of solitaire. That game took a few minutes until Kayden made a misstep that resulted in a lunging attempt by the wolf.
Dodging to the side, Kayden brought the katana down hard on the wolf's back. He landed a direct hit, but he hadn't counted on the animal's tenacity. Even though he was cut, he didn't give up and grabbed Kayden's legs. Again, his teeth demonstrated the incredible power they had and snapped Kayden's tibia in two. This time, the boy was prepared for the pain and managed to get another thrust at the wolf.
But it still wasn't enough, and he found himself falling into the same position as when he started, only this time his senses weren't as confused. He saw the wolf being levitated in the air and a small wooden doll appearing out of nowhere.
"Daisy, please heal him again." This time, even in excruciating pain, Kayden felt his muscles mending in seconds and his bones growing again. It was a very strange feeling.
"Again," Kayden got up and picked up his katana from the ground. The pain was vivid in his memory, and his body wouldn't let him forget it. His hands shook and sweated uncontrollably.
David knew that arguing with the boy would accomplish nothing. But he found his obsession unhealthy. Any child, or rather anyone who had their bones broken and crushed would not seek out the thing that hurt them again.
An hour later, the floor was already covered in dried blood. Kayden had 5 fights with the wolf and was in his sixth. In all, he had some part of his body broken, but he got up every time to face him again. Each time he managed to last longer and land more punches.
The wolf was also being healed, so it was a fight with both 100% every time. The daisy even provided the nutrients for recovery. Most importantly, Kayden lost his fear of the wolf. His hands no longer shook, and he managed to remain calm the entire time.
In the sixth fight, the wolf was doing the same scheme as in the beginning. He circled Kayden expecting a mistake, but the boy had learned to deal with it. He was also in constant motion.
At one point, Kayden faked a misplaced lunge at the wolf. When the animal jumped at him, the boy dodged and landed a blow on the wolf's side. The cut was deep and long. The wolf even tried to continue, but with his wound, he lost a lot of mobility.
Kayden filled him with small cuts, and after a few minutes, the wolf just fell over and didn't move. Seeing this, the boy also sat up and tried to catch his breath. That was his first real fight.
The pain, the fatigue, everything made him realize that it wasn't as simple as it was shown on entertainment programs.
"David, please heal the wolf and let him go back to the forest. He helped me a lot, and I don't want him to die for it."
Hearing the boy's request, David felt that he looked like a wise old man, but this impression was momentary. After healing the wolf, Daisy disappeared underground. David considered talking to Kayden, but the boy seemed lost in thought. So much so that when the scientist walked away, the boy didn't even notice.
Kayden was going over the fights in his mind, what he did wrong, and what he could improve on. He decided that he would hold a fight every 3 days. it should be time
enough to fully analyze the battle and work on correcting your mistakes.
The next day, Kayden woke up and did his usual fencing practice. This time, he tried to correct minor errors in a posture that made him lose speed or strength. Afterward, he had his normal day, studied the books, and practiced with the ball.
David and Kayden could be seen sitting on the lab bench. While Kayden was practicing with the ball, David was reading about the anatomy of the heart. The scientist was still completely messed up. Kayden was amazed that the man didn't stink, even though he never showered. He didn't even have a bathroom in his room.
"David, I think I should finish the ball within 5 months. It will be completing 6 months that I will be here." David nodded in agreement with the boy's words. "We must implement training to simulate a heart in the last 5 months, and in the last one, we must experiment."
"I think we'll need a few more years, Kayden." David doubted they could pull it off in such a short time.
"I can't wait a few more years, David. As long as we have a chance above 50%, I will try." David didn't answer. He knew the boy was stubborn when he made up his mind.
5 months later
Today marks 6 months since Kayden was away from home and working like crazy. His battles made his physique take another leap in quality. He was still the same person in appearance, but he developed muscles in specific places that only a real battle could produce.
katana's skill was at its peak. He progressed to taking on 2 wolves at once with a 70% injury-free win rate. Kayden was no longer nervous or anxious. Slowly, he developed a cool and calm mentality in combat.
They finished reading all the books they had on the subjects of heart, mana, and magical animals and their anatomy. For the past few weeks, they've just been waiting for Kayden to finish the skein. David did not follow the boy's progress, as he did not believe he would be able to finish in just 6 months.
But, out of His expectations, today Kayden appeared in front of his. He had bags under His eyes from sleep, but they had become part of His look over the last few months. His sleep was not a priority.
Placing the disassembled skein on the bench, Kayden turned to the scientist and said:
"I am ready to proceed with part two of our project." The boy flashed a proud smile. David was speechless for a few seconds.
"That…was impressive, Kayden. You should now have the same mana manipulation level as a 9th-rank apprentice. I will supply mana, and you will train in heart shaping."
It was really impressive what Kayden accomplished, but David doubted any kid would work eight hours a day on the ball. So, his progress was understandable. Perhaps only elite kids could compete with him in performance.
Saying that the scientist took a 3D model of the heart from a drawer and presented it to Kayden. Then he drew a heart in the air himself and explained to Kayden the step-by-step of how to model with pure mana.
"You have to focus on imposing your will for the heart to function independently", David explained a few more procedures that Kayden should be aware of when modeling.
Once he was done, David made the heart vanish into thin air and began gathering free-willed mana for Kayden to use. Kayden had never realized it, but his mana manipulation was much better than before. He practically only touched the ball of yarn and didn't notice that detail.
Molding the heart was difficult, the mana would get loose or not obey what he asked. This would be a time-consuming process, but with enough effort, it should be possible.
Kayden knew he had to make his heart work like a mana pump, pumping his body. Furthermore, he was supposed to create mana veins that would act as capillaries. That was the hardest part, shaping the heart was simply a matter of practice.
Over the next few days, Kayden was able to shape the heart and sustain it using a constant flow of mana. Since he managed to do that, his focus was on making the heart obey small commands, like beating or releasing mana by a certain point.
Author's note: I don't know when you'll read this, but it's 08/20/2023. I have more than 100 daily readers, that's cool for me, I started having 3 or 5 a day lol.
Today I had my 4 resources, web novels support those who are starting. so I thank everyone who is reading or has read this far. Thanks