The first two months of the training were definitely the toughest, Azriel was putting me and Ariel through some of the most physically exhausting things that I have ever gone through in the two lives that I have lived. Then my birthday finally came around.
It happened on my birthday on the 10th of the First Bloomrise, and he'd begun to teach me various new ways that would improve my strength and technique immensely, even with as young as I am now.
One morning, he woke me and Ariel up early. He had brought something over the night before, and told us that we would be training using it later on.
First, however, I needed to show him something else, or rather, demonstrate a certain magic, something I knew was vital for my development in the upcoming years of hard training. He led me into a wide field with trees and bushes scattered all around us.
At its edge lay a river with several small bridges going across the small canyon walls. There were two bridges directly across from us, and another directly beneath the tall cliff beside us, providing us a perfect view of the valley beneath. "Watch the sky closely youngling, it is filled with magic, especially in places where there is no air to breathe and not a single tree, and yet even here you will find signs of life if you simply look closely enough." He told me while pointing at a huge mushroom growing beside the rock we sat on, I wondered if that had anything to do with the weather up in the heavens.
He looked at me with a stern look on his face, something that I have never seen before. "Truth be told Cyrus, in the past few months that I have been training you all I have seen is pure potential and it has made me realize something. There is an evil in this world that not a soul is able to kill. You are the only living human being with the ability to use Aether to my knowledge and it has made me realize that you are the soul sent from the Gods to kill this false deity, Omnixis."
How the fuck does he know about Omnixis? There's no way that I'm ever supposed to kill him... where does he even reside? How is he the creator of Aether?! I wanted to respond so bad, but for whatever reason I felt the words choke up in my throat, and all that came out was an incredulous cough.
After recovering a moment later, I finally had a moment to calm down a bit and just stared dumbfounded at Azriel. What makes him think I could beat a god? Even with all this training how would I even stand a chance, I've seen the true might of the powers above and how are these men so much stronger than the gods?
"Cyrus, I think it's time that we move onto something more challenging. It's quite simple in theory, but challenging to execute. Land a hit on me." It's been weeks since he started giving me any instruction, yet this task was incredibly simple. All I have to do is attack and I'll win. It sounds silly in a way that all I need to do to pass the lesson is attack but when you take into account everything else, then maybe this isn't such a simple task anymore.
This is by far the toughest and most intense combat that I have ever partaken in, ever. From the second he unleashed a blast of energy and charged at me I've had a lot more trouble keeping up with his attacks. The power was completely overkill, not to mention that it was completely unnecessary. I also wanted to test out the theory about having aether act differently from elementals, but so far none of the attacks landed, not that I am expecting them to anyway. It's very hard to land an attack when you can't even follow someone's movements. As the months continue to go by, I feel like I have made absolutely 0 progress on being able to land a hit on Azriel. Maybe I'm overthinking my approach, but then again, his power exceeds mine in a way that is almost incomprehensible. Not to mention, if I fail, then what happens to me? I still haven't told anyone that Omnixis was a part of my soul, and I didn't really intend to tell anyone anytime soon either, no need to involve anyone in any more shit.
There is something else, though... I am starting to become able to detect, or feel where Azriel is at all times, which makes tracking his movements a lot easier, and it helps that whenever he begins charging an attack the hair on the back of my neck would stick up, kind of like the spines on a porcupine, not that this has made attacking him any easier or anything...
Over the last few months, I have managed to get quite proficient in my swordsmanship and martial arts, even though I was never that great at either of those things in the past. Though honestly, I am very impressed with myself because now my abilities rival his to a considerable extent. As time goes on, Azriel continues teaching me a ton about his fighting style as well, something that was very much needed after coming home and immediately being put to training for 3 days straight.
A couple of weeks pass since our first lesson in "surviving" and Azriel teaches Ariel and me several techniques, but I'm only just getting warmed up...
As usual, Azriel continues teaching me new things, except this time we were working together rather than alone as we used to. But that all changed, as with each session together we practiced everything we learned on top of trying to land a single hit on our master's head. The result, well I would describe as catastrophic, to say the least.
"Azriel, I feel like I haven't made any progress at being able to hit you... how god damn strong are you?" The entire year was spent trying to hit him in some form, not a single day passed without us training together, every single session lasted at least 12 hours on the dot, no breaks. For someone who spends so much energy and time trying to land a strike on his opponent, not once have I made even a slight scratch on his armor. He always beats me in a heartbeat, and in the blink of an eye I'll be laying on my back gasping for breath, after Azriel knocked me to the ground with ease.
I felt like my brain had been punched a couple of times, if that was possible, although if it was I could honestly say it was far from pleasant. Then all of a sudden, my entire body tensed up, my legs wouldn't move, my hands wouldn't bend... all of it was just so weird... there's definitely something off.
"Cyrus, I don't expect you to be able to hit me for the next five years of your life. The difference in our strength is like climbing the tallest mountain on this planet 100 times fold." Well damn. "It will take some time but, with enough practice... just be patient." Azriel's voice calmed me.
I'm just going to take a minute to collect myself. My brain hurt so much, but why did it hurt this bad. Was it because my brain got jostled around too much from falling to the floor or did the training session yesterday take the toll that I was feeling? No matter how I felt though, the one thing I could not lose focus of is Azriel's words; Patience was key, which means I'd better keep going!
"Cyrus, how are you holding up?" Ariel pat me on the shoulder and gave me her usual warm smile that brings me comfort every time I witness it. I didn't think it would've worked on me but somehow... it helped the pain that had accumulated in my skull fade away like a piece of cake, which I may or may not have eaten every single piece of.
We exchanged smiles at one another as if it were a passing thought, before quickly realizing that this battle had just started and we still had quite a bit to go. There wasn't much time to react in terms of preparing our defense, but it was enough to start running. The best idea for me and Ariel right now is to not let him corner us. If he can surround the area, then there's no escape. But that won't happen right now. Not at this stage. Not yet.
I can't keep running from him, and neither can Ariel. I don't even know how he is that fast at his old, senile age, and yet I barely noticed him even move. If only we had some sort of barrier.
"Cyrus, brace." She pulled me out of her grip and spun her body around me as if she were a ballerina. A small white sphere appeared around us, and then we stood back to back facing each other.
The sphere was held in place by a magic barrier that pulsated with a strange kind of energy that made my hair stand up. Ariel created a barrier as an attempt to stop Azriel when he charges forward.
The man had already shown off more than half of his speed. He's fast, and he doesn't even know it. Just how strong will we be after the training period, especially now that we are training harder than ever?
Once again the energy within his gauntlet rose, and then he dashed forward. This time though, he went right through the barrier, not slowing his pace for an instant. Ariel's shield shattered almost instantly upon contact with him, she didn't know whether or not she had done anything, or that it wasn't her magic.
I tried to track his path as he ran at us, but he was too fast for me to keep up. Every time I attempted to counter his speed was a struggle, one that resulted with him beating the crap out of me and putting me flat on the floor again. I hadn't noticed until Ariel pointed it out but it was weird for her not being able to put up her own barrier.
"Well, that didn't work." I grumbled and sighed heavily before collapsing down to my knees, exhausted.
He started laughing at Ariel and I the old man that he was. "How are any of you two supposed to hit me when you are constantly on the defensive, Cyrus? Your potential to outspeed me is very prominent, yet you choose to stay on the defensive. Ariel, your destructive capabilities even surpass Cyrus' with his Aether. If both of you worked together, I know you could be able to land something on me." He began rubbing his chin while talking to us, while both Ariel and I both shook our heads vigorously at the thought.
I don't want to hurt him, not after everything I just did. Why am I still defending if I am never going to be able to land a hit on him, is there anything else I could be doing that would make all this running worth it? Maybe the answer lies elsewhere in the village somewhere. I have a lot of thinking to do, and a lot of studying to do.