When spring came, Lukas realised something that he almost forgot about. He was 15 now.
He knew his birthday was in winter, February even. But he didn't know what day it was during the last 4, or 5 months of training. So, the only way he could know when his birthday was, was to wait until spring. Since, if it was spring, winter was over and his birthday had passed.
When he remembered this he told Bene, who had never actually asked Lukas for his age. Bene knew that Lukas was young, but never knew how young.
"Were you fifteen when we first met? Or were you only fourteen?"
"No, I was only fourteen."
"When's your birthday? I'll have to remember it for next time."
"February 21st."
It had only been 2 months at most since he first awakened to his Frequency. From that day on, he tried to incorporate his Frequency into his routines. Rewinding when he made a mistake, or to throw Bene off during a spar.
But most importantly, he learned two things.
The first was pretty straightforward. He narrowed the window of usage for his Frequency. He found that if he ever used it less than 30 seconds after the previous use, then it would drain far more energy than usual. However, despite being a good rule to follow, it wasn't exactly that simple.
Lukas wasn't very educated, and he wasn't really taught anything. The only thing he was taught was practical advice from his father. Anything else, he learnt on his own, like how he taught himself how to read and write.
So he didn't understand some of the more complex definitions of his Frequency. But Bene came up with a theory as to how much energy his Frequency would require when he used it. It went as follows:
There is a baseline energy use for Lukas' Frequency, which Bene called 0. After Lukas uses his Frequency, this number rises to the point which would consume all of Lukas' energy. Which Bene called 100. Over about a minute or so, this number slowly decreases back to 0. And after 30 seconds, Lukas could use his Frequency again without collapsing immediately after.
That was the simple version at least, but Bene over-explained it the first time, and Lukas didn't understand any of it.
The second thing he learned over the past two months, was to splice his Frequency into his combat. Bene jokingly told Lukas he could create his own battle style from it. At least, Lukas thought he was joking, but Bene didn't laugh or say it in any tone that would indicate sarcasm.
He mostly used his Frequency to correct mistakes and emulate a never-ending stream of flawless attacks. He also used it to retroactively react to actions made by his opponent. Causing him to react to something before it even happened. Granting him an inefficient and costly form of foresight... that could only be used every 30 seconds. So... not great.
But about this "battle style" that Bene joked about. Lukas had gotten better at training with both of his weapons, the tachi and the kusarigama. Forging both to have their own competent skill. But it's when both are added, that they become deadly.
He could flow from a deadly stream of attacks with his blade to a macabre dance of chains with the kusarigama. When this sense of grace is mixed with the ability to suddenly shift tactics by leaping through time, it truly becomes its own.
By summer, his strength and skill had improved a considerable amount. He could lift the second stone for almost half a minute, and barely push the third stone. Which he thought weighed about 100kg. Even he knew he would not be lifting that stone any time soon. That did make him wonder how much the fourth stone weighed. 150kg? 200kg? 300kg!? No, probably not. But he certainly couldn't move it more than half a centimetre at most.
His skill was... different, however. He was close to finding a balance between his two distinct fighting styles. But during spring, and into summer, he started relying more on the kusarigama than the trusty tachi.
However, even if his style was shifting, one thing that wasn't was his usage of his Frequency. He still fought by relying on it. But he also trained to withstand using it in more rapid bursts. So while he could use it less than 30 seconds after his previous use. It wasn't very practical and still drained him off almost, if not all of, his energy. It was more of an ace up his sleeve he could use in the most desperate of situations.
He also had beaten Bene on more than one occasion. But he only could beat him with tricks and sudden changes that Bene could not predict. The fact that he could only beat Bene with these methods showed his strength and skill. At least in Lukas' eyes. Bene was like a glacier that refused to melt.
In autumn, Lukas could no longer see any growth within him.
His strength wasn't seeing any noticeable increases. His skill... was improving, but it wasn't very quick. He wanted to leave and start actually doing something, but Bene told him something,
"You need patience. There is one more thing you need before you can leave."
Lukas asked what that one thing was, but Bene wouldn't tell him.
But putting himself aside for a moment, Lukas noticed something else. Bene was growing more distraught. He seemed to be frustrated at something and seemed more sour and grim as time went on.
Lukas very much wanted to ask. But... he couldn't bring himself to. It didn't seem to be directed at Lukas. Bene wasn't disappointed with or mad at Lukas, it was something else beyond him.
There was also one other thing...
A crow...