Chapter Seven

I didn't notice how long the walk down the hall was. I was trapped in thought, staring at the gauntlets on my arms the whole time. With a simple thought, I sent purple energy sparking at my fingertips. The power I felt while wearing the gauntlets was…incredible. Within what felt like minutes, I reached a massive room.

You could easily tell it was a training room. Scattered all about the huge chamber training dummies and targets. There were various obstacle courses, all with difficult looking challenges. A 20-story climbing wall, a huge pit with a seemingly never-ending bottom, and a few other…unusual courses. I noticed there was also a giant Precursor Idol, just like the one in the main hall.

I wandered around the massive room, not expecting what to find, when all of a sudden the eyes on the Precursor Idol flashed white, just like the other statue. And sure enough, it began to talk.

"Welcome to the Hall of Practice," it said, its booming voice resonating through the hall.

"Here you will learn to harness your abilities, as many Eco-Morphers have done before you. The skills you learn here will be vital if you are to save this world."

I took another look at my surroundings before looking back at the Precursor.

"This is all very impressive. But how is a giant pit and…are those crossbows? I think they are…going to help me save the world?" I asked

"Those will come in good time," the Precursor replied. "For now let's work on your Dark Eco abilities. If you would approach the target range please."

I walked over to the target range. The targets were made of a metal of some kind that I didn't recognise, but they were full of burn marks so it had to be resilient.

"Dark Eco will be your main method of attack for now. The simplest way for you to attack will be an energy blast."

I looked over my shoulder back at the statue.

"And how am I to do that?" I asked it.

"Raise your hand and aim it at the target," the statue replied. "Now focus. Force the energy from your body to travel through to your arm, and then use the gauntlet as a release."

I lifted my hand and pointed it at the target. I closed my eyes and concentrated, imagining a blast of Dark Eco coming out of my hand. I started to hear a slight crackle that sounded like static and I opened my eyes. The hand of the gauntlet was glowing with a dark purple light and sparking off small bolts of lightning. Suddenly, I felt a small discharge from my hand and watched a bolt of Dark Eco shoot from my hand and strike the target, leaving a smoking patch on the metal.

I looked back at the statue, this time with a satisfied smirk.

"Like that?" I asked.

If statues could nod, I bet that one would've.

"What's next?"

"Well," the Precursor replied. "You obviously have a hand for your ranged attack. Now we will teach you something more close-quarters. If you would please approach the training dummies."

I walked over to a small cluster of the training dummies. They were built to last, with reinforced steel frames and armour made of the same metal as the targets. I looked back at the statue.

"What do I do this time?" I asked

"Concentrate again," the Precursor replied. "But this time focus your energy into your fist. The rest will be self-explanatory."

I closed my eyes again and concentrated. I could feel the same surge of power in my hand and forearm, but this time it didn't feel like it wanted an exit. I opened my eyes and saw my arm was glowing the familiar dark purple of Dark Eco. It was covering my arm like a second skin, and I could feel the power in my fist.

'The Precursor said it would be self-explanatory,' I thought. 'Let's see if I got the right meaning.'

I wound up my arm and threw a punch at the dummy. A small storm of purple lightning sprung up where my fist connected and the dummy's head went flying off. I looked down at my fist in awe. I hadn't felt a thing.

I looked back at the statue. "How was that?" I asked.

"Very good," it replied. "Your power is…impressive. But anyone can throw a punch. Now let us see how you fare with Light Eco. If you would please approach the crossbow turrets."

I walked over to the crossbow 'turret'. It seemed more like another target range, only I seemed to be the target.

"Light Eco will serve as your main method of defense. Used well, these skills will save your life more times than you can count. First off is the Light Shield. Used properly, this ability will shield you from most attacks."

I stared up at the crossbows. "And these are here for…?" I asked.

"To test the strength of your shield."

"Naturally…" I muttered to myself. "Alright. How do I make the shield work?"

"As always, you focus. But this time, you're not focusing in one spot in particular. You have to feel the energy coursing through your whole body, and focus it into a physical force surrounding your body. Be warned, it is not easy for a Dark Eco Eco-Morpher to control Light Eco. This will be much more difficult."

I nodded and closed my eyes. I did as the Precursor said and focused. I felt the energy coursing through my veins. I could feel the power in my blood. For what felt like moments I concentrated on the power, when suddenly I felt a surge. Like exhaling, the power left, and when I opened my eyes there was a shimmering white force field surrounding me.

"Is this what you were going for?" I asked.

"Yes," it replied. "But you could've been faster creating it."

"What? That took a minute, maybe two."

"You've been concentrating for an hour."

The pride I gained from creating the shield died away when I heard that. "Oh…" I replied.

"Irrelevant. We can work on that. For now, let us see how strong your shield is."

Immediately after the Precursor said that, a shot fired from a crossbow. As it struck, there was a flash of light from the shield. The bolt hadn't just been stopped, it'd been completely vaporised.

"Very impressive," the Precursor muttered. "But can you do two things at once? Hold up your shield and blast a bolt out of the sky with the Dark Eco."

Another shot fired and a bolt flew straight towards me. I tried to fire a blast of energy, but the bolt was flying fast. My concentration broke and the crossbow bolt ripped through my shield and struck me in the shoulder. I fell to my knees and cried out in pain.

"You need to focus!" the Precursor boomed, voice resonating through the entire chamber.

"Yeah I got that. Thanks for that. I'VE BEEN SHOT! WHAT DO I DO!?" I shouted, anger and pain starting to take over my mind. I was losing control of my power, Dark Eco flashing form all over my body.

"This is when you learn another Light Eco ability. This is when you learn to heal. Focus your energy, a small portion of it, to the wound."

I took a breath, but my breathing was still uneven. I closed my eyes and tried to focus, but all I could feel was the blood flowing from my shoulder.

"You have to calm your mind Valric! Your focus must be strong, or it will not work!" The voice of the Precursor wasn't helping much, but I tried to comply.

I took another breath and tried to steady my breathing. I ignored the sensations, the feeling of my warm blood covering my hand and running down my arm. The feeling of warm blood started to melt away and I started to feel the warmth of the Light Eco. I felt the pain fade away and the blood stop flowing. I opened my eyes and looked at my shoulder. The crossbow bolt had dissolved, leaving nothing behind. The wound itself was glowing white and I watched as the flesh knitted itself back together. In less than a minute the wound was completely healed, leaving not even a scar behind. I stood up, staring at the Precursor Idol and waiting for it to say something.

"Very good," it said in a solemn voice "But we aren't finished yet. There is still one ability you've yet to learn. If you would please approach the pit."

I walked over to the bottom-less pit and looked over the edge. It appeared that there was a bottom, but it was very deep down. Definitely wouldn't be a fun fall.

"To perform this ability, you're going to have to jump."

I spun around and stared at the statue, my mouth agape.

"ARE YOU INSANE!?" I yelled at it "HAVEN'T YOU ALMOST KILLED ME ENOUGH FOR ONE DAY!?"

"Don't worry Valric," the Precursor replied with an eerily calm voice. "You won't die. You will sprout wings."

I stood, staring at the statue for about a minute before I turned around and started walking towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" the statue asked.

"You've lost it there Rockhead," I shouted back, still walking away. "I'm not jumping into a pit, I'm not sprouting wings, and I'm most certainly not being trained by a crazy statue!"

Suddenly, I couldn't move. I was frozen, mid-step.

"I am not insane. That is the Light power. Come back and I will teach you."

I unfroze and fell to the ground. I stood up, brushed myself off, and reluctantly walked back to the pit.

"Fine. Please giant Precursor thingy, teach me how to grow wings like an Eco wielding chicken."

"Alright," the Precursor replied, stifling what might've been a laugh. "Focus the Light Eco to your back and expel it as a pair of wings."

I sighed and closed my eyes. As per normal, I felt the energy course through my body and I focused it at my back. After a minute of concentration, I felt the energy expel in a way it never had before. When I opened my eyes, I was hovering above the ground. I looked behind me and saw a magnificent pair of shimmering white wings.

"Holy fuck…" I muttered, staring at the wings. They were flapping slightly, just enough to keep me above ground. I tweaked my focus a bit and soon found myself dropping slightly to the ground. I stood there, probably looking like a moron with a giant set of wings on my back.

"Very good Valric," the Precursor said. "Now you need to test them. And to do that, you need to jump."

This time I nodded with no arguments. I ran forward and jumped over the edge. The wind was loud in my ears as I freefell through the crevice. My eyes were closed and I was concentrating on trying to fly. I was thinking about all the birds I've ever seen and anything from Haven City that managed to fly. After a minute, the wings spread out and flapped once. But man did that flap count.

I soared upwards out of the pit and started flying around the Training Room. It was the most fun I'd had in a long time and I whooped and hollered the entire time. It was incredible. One flap of the ethereal wings could last quite some time. But my fun was cut short when I heard the Precursor's voice in my head.

"Come down Valric… Come down or I will bring you down…"

I scowled and started my descent. When I landed, the wings dissipated and the feeling of power left me.

"I think that is enough training for today," the Precursor said. "There is another exit from the training room that will take you to your chambers. Rest while you can Valric, and regain your strength. Training resumes first thing in the morning."

I nodded and started towards the exit.

Well, is it just me or did that take a long time? Sorry, I'm really crappy with my updates. I hope you like this chapter. Review if you want to, and please want to. I love reviews, good or bad. DT98 out!