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Currently in a clearing within the forest just outside the town of Valey, the figures of Torus and his master could be seen. However, rather than engaging in a fight as is common for the two, they were actually standing at opposite sides of the field as Sophia spoke to him, "After you awakened your God Seed, something happened that showcased to me the real reason why you haven't been improving in combat over the past few years." Getting to here, Sofia watched as Torus clenched his fist, a look of deep shame burned onto his face.
As she watched Torus' face shift into a multitude of different expressions all centered around self-blame and a deep burning shame, a sad smile seemed to appear on Sofia's own, "Now now, it's not actually your fault that you've stagnated." As she said this, she watched as Torus looked up at her with a small amount of hope shining within his brilliant blue eyes; yet, she could still see that he wasn't willing to fully accept what she was saying, still stubbornly believing the problem to stem from himself.
Sofia seemed to take a minute, as if hesitating to admit her next words before determined glint took hold in her gaze, opening her mouth to admit to something she had been holding in 'till this point, "In truth, it's actually my fault that you stopped improving. I chose to train you in a similar manner to the way most Warrior's of our race are trained before their Awakening. Now, this wasn't necessarily a wrong decision, it just turned out that you're one of the few people where this method of training doesn't actually work.
You see, the way that our race is trained is in keeping our emotions in check, constantly trying to keep control over the tempo of the battlefield as a whole rather than just focusing on our own fight. The reason behind this is that our race has a lot of unity, rarely will you find a Warrior of our race out solo, they will almost always be in teams," She slowly explained.
Pausing here, Sofia watched to make sure Torus was listening, only continuing once he had looked up to give her a nod of his head, signifying he understood what she was getting at, "Now, the issue with this stems from the fact that there are certain people born with Aspects that affect the way they fight, disabling our standard way of combat.
However, this occurs so rarely that I had forgotten about it. It wasn't until you'd awakened your God Seed and I saw first-hand how your aspect works that I understood what the issue was. It's not that you shouldn't be keeping an eye on the entire battlefield, but rather that the way for you to get stronger is to rely on your instincts in a fight more than trying to plan out every action you make," Sofia continued, her tone taking on that of a lecturer.
Taking a deep breath, Sofia's expression steeled itself as she prepared for the upcoming battle, her mind flashing back to the fight she'd had with Torus where his Aspect had taken over. While the Torus of then was truly too weak compared to her and couldn't even cause a serious injury to her, she could still remember that she felt danger whenever she interacted with him.
It was as if she wasn't fighting a human but rather an Apex Predator, as if she were once more back in the Barren Lands fighting off Corrupted Beasts.
Returning to the present, Sofia continued her speech where she'd left off, tone turning far more serious than previously as to signify to Torus that what she said next was very important, "With that being said, I want you to come at me without thinking, I don't want you to create a plan to fight me or try to scout out my weaknesses, I just want you to use your instincts." As she finished her sentence, Sofia could see the look of doubt on her young disciples face, an unsure look in his eyes.
However, she said nothing to comfort him; in truth, what she was asking him to do right now, went against everything she had previously taught him. Still, she knew that if Torus wanted to become truly strong, this was the only way he could do so.
As she watched on, Sofia witnessed as Torus seemingly shook off his concerns, his expression shifting. As she looked at the near snarl that appeared on his face giving him the look of a beast, Sofia couldn't help but to gain a far more serious look.
However, her eyes took on a bit more of a surprised look as she watched Torus crouch down, placing his palms on the ground as he got on all fours.
Eyes constricting into pinpoints, Sofia watched on with a serious expression as Torus' relaxed figure suddenly tensed, the air becoming heavy with the weight of the current situation. This stalemate-like situation continued for a while, before Torus' tensed figure suddenly moved, using his readied state to shift into a pounce right away, his figure flashing forward.
As he dashed toward her however, Sofia immediately noticed something wrong with his charge - he was heading at her in a straight line. Shaking her head in disappointment, Sofia couldn't help but feel there was a lot of work she still had to do to get her disciple into proper shape.
However, as she continued to watch his figure, Sofia noticed something strange. It appeared that even though he was now fighting using his instincts, he still seemed to be using his head for something else.
She watched as every so often Torus' figure would shift, his speed seeming to increase afterward; that's right, Torus seemed to be analyzing his movements and changing them to fit his form better, allowing his movement to become more streamlined.
With the speed he was moving at, it would take Torus very little time to reach Sofia's currently inert figure. However, in this entire time that she had been watching him intently, Sofia never once attacked.
Something about the battlefield seemed to change however, as if the energy around the two could almost feel that something big was about to happen as Torus continued moving forward.
15 Meters
10 Meters
5 Meters
Torus watched on as his Master's eyes seemed to narrow, her entire aura shifting once he had gotten within a five meter radius of her. With a swift slash of her sword, she sent an attack reeling toward his figure.
The reason Sofia hadn't attacked during Torus' seemingly reckless straightforward charge was for this moment - she hoped to get him to a point where he was too close to dodge her attack.
Originally, she planned to attack sooner when he was around 10 meters away, but seeing how much faster he seemed to be getting, Sofia wasn't 100 percent confident in hitting an attack from that distance, choosing to instead risk getting hit if her attack were to miss by allowing him to get five meters from her to instead guarantee a hit.
As she watched on with an attentive gaze however, Sofia witnessed something that caused her eyes to widen in surprise. The figure of Torus seemed to continue charging forward with zero slowdown, as if he didn't even recognize the attack coming his way.
Soon, the attack was directly in front of him, leaving no room for him to dodge!
As she watched this, Sofia prepared herself to rush forward, knowing that her attack was much too powerful for him to handle.
While she expected the attack to hit him, Sofia thought that Torus would either choose to follow the momentum of the attack or try to dodge, both results would lead to minor injuries. She never expected him to just brute force the attack!
However, what she witnessed next led to her eyes widening even further, the surprise so evident in them that she didn't even have time to react to the events that followed.
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