Nathan had to use his senses as he had never used them before, his eyes quickly scanned everything around him, and his ears registered every sound he could pick up.
All around him was a lush forest full of trees and different types of plants that Nathan had never seen before. That morning, Dilliard had gone to his room to pick him up and take him to the middle of the forest.
At first Nathan was confused, but it turned out that this was his first training, or as Dilliard defined it, a test.
Why had Dilliard released him in the middle of the jungle with only his sword? Well... to train his reflexes and survival skills.
Nathan held his sword in both hands and stood still, maintaining his stance without showing any weakness.
His hands were sweating a little, but his breathing was calm. He could hear his heartbeat in the silence of the rainforest.
Suddenly, the whisper of a breeze reached Nathan's ears and he turned quickly to block the arrow that was flying towards him.
The arrow struck the edge of his sword and fell to the ground. Nathan looked at the arrow and smiled from behind his mask.
'Not so bad'
Suddenly he heard another wind and this time he had to dodge backwards, feeling that he didn't have time to block the arrow with his sword.
The arrow grazed his arm, ripping his shirt but not touching his skin.
"Don't lose your concentration"
Nathan heard Dilliard's voice in all directions without being able to identify his position. He refocused immediately and the training continued for several hours.
During his training with Boreas, Nathan had only learned how to use the sword, nothing else. This training with Dilliard, on the other hand, was more about learning how to survive in different situations.
Nathan's reflexes were good, at least much better than his essence control. The result of his death training with Boreas, where he had to see his premonition of death and react in time to dodge or block attacks.
Dilliard stepped out of the trees and approached Nathan.
"You've got good reflexes, so it wouldn't hurt to level up a bit"
Nathan nodded.
"Sounds good to me"
Dilliard smiled outwardly but sighed inwardly.
'He looks confident... maybe I should show him what he's up against'
Dilliard turned away again before disappearing into the trees, his voice echoing in all direction's seconds later.
"Ready?"
Nathan took a deep breath and nodded.
"Sure"
Everything went completely silent again as Nathan's concentration returned.
'Let's see how far I can go'
Considering how well he had done the first time, Nathan thought it wouldn't hurt to try something harder.
Big mistake.
Nathan heard a light breeze and turned to deflect the arrow, but as he did so he heard another breeze but was unable to react, so the arrow tore through his trousers without leaving a scratch.
'What the...?'
Nathan hadn't been able to react to the speed of the arrow. So, he didn't have time to think when he heard three different blasts coming at him from the front. Dilliard no longer forced him to identify the direction of the arrows, now he just shot from the front.
Technically, it should have been easier for Nathan to block or deflect the arrows if he had known where they were coming from, but the speed and force of these arrows was nothing like the previous ones. Besides, there were three in a row, giving Nathan only time to deflect one, while the other two tore through his clothes without leaving a single wound.
'How...'
Nathan couldn't understand how an arrow could be so fast that he couldn't even see it.
Anyway, he couldn't think about it because new arrows were on their way. So, he had no choice but to try and block what he could.
A few hours later, as the sun began to set on the horizon, Dilliard emerged from the jungle and approached Nathan again.
The muscular man had a satisfied smile on his face.
"So? How do you think you did?"
Nathan was breathing heavily and was propped up on his knees. He looked up to meet Dilliard's eyes before he sighed.
"Horrible..."
The first part of Nathan's training had gone well, but the second part had gone from bad to worse.
Dilliard didn't change the strength and speed of the arrows he shot at Nathan, but as time went on Nathan got tired and his reflexes and reaction time naturally slowed down.
Nathan took a deep breath and got to his feet.
"Did you use your technique?"
Dilliard raised an eyebrow in amusement.
"My technique? No, I just used my body and limited the use of essence to a first rank third category. Besides, my technique has nothing to do with bows"
Nathan gaped.
'He only use essence?'
He couldn't believe it, the power and speed of those arrows was too much to be shot without technique. Or so Nathan thought, as he had never been exposed to attacks that used essence, so he didn't fully understand the power of this mysterious energy coursing through his body.
Nathan looked down at his hands, dazed.
'Will I be able to do something like that?'
Nathan shook his head.
He barely understood the surface of what Essence meant to a person. An increase in his physical abilities, in addition to the use of the technique itself.
On top of that, Dilliard had exquisite control with the bow. All his clothes were torn to shreds, but there was not a single wound on his body. Nathan couldn't help but marvel at the man who was now his teacher.
'Between Boreas and Dilliard... Who would win?
He couldn't help but compare the two, especially since they were the only people, he had witnessed their strength against.
What were their ranks and what were their techniques? How many years had he trained to reach these levels?
With each new thought, Nathan could only marvel at the strength and tenacity of both of them.
Dilliard looked up at the sky and, seeing that night was beginning to fall, signaled for Nathan to follow. They walked through the jungle for almost twenty minutes before they reached the training grounds.
"We'll train again tomorrow, so get ready."
Nathan looked at Dilliard and nodded.
"Got it"
The man smiled, put a hand on his shoulder and waved goodbye before disappearing through the floodlit corridors of the facility.
Nathan watched him go and then looked around curiously. The day before he had spent the day in the innermost part of the facility, in the underground cavern, and today he had spent the whole day training from morning to night.
So far, he had been able to see a bit of the outside of the facility.
There were several buildings of various sizes and shapes, and a lot of green space. Nathan compared it to some of the university campuses he had seen on television or visited with his family on various occasions years ago.
At first glance, he would not say it was the base of an illegal organization.
As he looked around, trying to figure out where the dormitories were, Nathan couldn't help but curse at Dilliard.
'At least drop me off where you picked me up'
Nathan was lost, he'd come out of the jungle through a different place than he'd gone in, so he didn't know how to get to the dormitories.
Suddenly Nathan heard footsteps behind him and saw three people coming towards him.
All three were young men, probably about Nathan's age. They were wearing black military uniforms, the kind worn by cadets, as well as their personal weapons.
The young man in front of the other two carried a katana like him and his expression was anything but friendly.
Nathan sighed.
'Trouble?'
The other two young men laughed as they walked until they reached him a few seconds later.
"Oh? He's the supposed disciple of the devil"
Nathan listened intently as he remained silent.
'The devil? ...what a reputation you have' The image of an old man killing him with his cane flashed through his mind.
'Come to think of it... it suits him'
The other young man laughed at the other's comment.
"Look at his clothes, they're so damaged he probably doesn't know how to fight"
Nathan sighed, they really weren't that wrong, he had realized he still had too much work to do.
The two young men continued to throw the same kind of remarks at him, but Nathan didn't react, just stared at the young man in front of him.
"Aren't you going to talk like them?" said Nathan, getting bored of standing there staring at him.
The young man frowned and snorted.
"No need, I've got nothing to say to someone like you"
Nathan's eyelid twitched in annoyance.
'Someone like me?'
Nathan didn't know who the trio were, but he already didn't like them. Nathan didn't want any trouble, nor did he particularly care what they said about him. He'd been through worse to be bothered by comments like that.
The problem was that he was tired and not sure how strong the three young men were to stand up to them. But as if he were an angelic savior, a voice came from above.
"I didn't know you had a penchant for picking on newcomers, Lloyd"
Nathan recognized the voice and looked up to see a beautiful black haired young woman sitting on a lamppost eating something.
Lloyd looked up as well and frowned.
"Syril? What are you doing here?"
The young girl finished chewing her food and jumped down, landing noiselessly in front of them.
"I was just passing by and saw something interesting"
Lloyd frowned and was silent for a few seconds before giving Nathan a dirty look and walking off in the direction he had come from. The other two young men also gave him a dirty look and left Lloyd behind.
'Wow...'
Nathan and Syril were silent as they watched Lloyd disappear behind a building. Then Nathan sighed and looked at Syril.
"What are you doing here?"
Syril smiled innocently and shrugged.
"Didn't I tell you? I was just passing through"
Nathan didn't believe the young woman's words, the night before she had toyed with him and removed his mask. So, he was even more suspicious of her, but when he saw her innocent smile, he had no choice but to sigh and accept her excuse. In the end, she had helped him out of a potential problem that Nathan would rather have spared himself.
"Anyway... Do you know where the dormitories are?"
Syril chuckled softly and nodded.
"Sure, follow me"
Nathan sighed again, just waiting for a direction, but instead he had to follow her. Nathan was already physically tired, and he didn't want to become mentally tired.