I only have a few words before the story. Come on, REVIEW.. please.. That is all.
I now present Nexus: Part 4
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Asural thought that his years of training in the army would be more than enough to defeat Jae, but he soon found out that he was dead wrong. As soon as their swords crossed on the first strike, Asural knew he would lose.
Their fight went on for about 3 minutes; during which Asural went through all of his techniques and started improvising, but in the end Jae disarmed him and whacked him painfully in the side with her sword.
"Good. Your strength and skill are near the edge of what humans are capable of; however, your speed and endurance must increase ten-fold in order for you to be of any use in a real fight. The only reason why the king is able to conquer so many countries is through overwhelming the enemy with numbers, so you must be able to outlast them."
The rest of the day was spent teaching Asural new moves and then trying them out in combat.
By the end, Asural was more tired than he had ever been during boot camp. He was battered and could barely move, while Jae hadn't been hit once.
Asural was still sore the next day, but he finally saw the usefulness of boot camp. It was a picnic compared to his current training.
Asural realized something as he was eating breakfast, "Won't Doruin find us if we stay here too long?"
Jae answered, "I forgot to tell you, this forest is a little strange. You can only get in or out at midnight. And that's about three months from now."
"What?!" Exclaimed Asural.
"Time runs differently here. Three months in here is one day out in the real world. It's not recommended to stay here longer than one 'day' at a time, it's not healthy."
"What exactly is this place?"
"Have you ever heard of the Forest of Eternity?"
"Yea, it's a mythical forest in which anyone who enters it goes mad from being in it just one day."
"Well that's this forest. Don't worry about it though; you won't go mad any time soon, as long as you do what I say," laughed Jae.
"What does that mean?"
"Do what I tell you and you won't have to find out." Jae lifted her hand slightly and a menacing light glowed from it.
"Well how long will the training take?" Asked Asural, watching her hand for any sudden movements.
"About 10 weeks. It's not like you're going anywhere soon."
"10 weeks? That seems a little short. It takes years to fully learn Gramarye and the magicians never truly stop learning."
"You already possess the skills needed to use it; we only need to teach you how to bring out your powers."
"How am I already able to use it? I've never even heard of it."
"That was what the flood of images was when you blacked out. Enough questions, it's time for some more training."
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The next week was spent teaching magic theory and swordplay.
After that, Asural started to use magic. He would remember a piece of knowledge and he could use it easily.
"Not only does magic require a lot of concentration, it also requires a strong mind and will. If you can achieve all three, you will be able to use magic however you like. But until then, you must specify what you want to do through the symbols and the network of energy flowing through the magic."
The next month was spent using magic in a variety ways: ranging from manipulating the ground to creating gale force winds to changing the properties of light.
Finally, Asural started to use magic without writing out what he wanted to do.
"This is the most demanding part of the training. You must formulate what you want in your head and store it somewhere on your body, preferably on your arms to make it easy to access." Jae rolled up her sleeve and revealed a pattern of pictograms. "With these you don't have to draw out what you want, because it's all right here."
She held out a hand and a small circle of characters appeared above it. "Notice that one of the pictograms lit up, that's the one for this spell. With this, you aren't limited to casting a single spell, but as many as you can concentrate on."
Asural had a constant headache for a whole week from the stress it placed on his mind; but when it subsided he could finally use magic with ease.
Two weeks later, when he could control multiple spells at once, Jae asked him, "Do you see that raven up in the tree? Kill it with magic."
"Umm okay," answered Asural. He pointed at the bird, a small light flashed up his finger, and the bird fell out of the tree. Asural fell to the ground, feeling sick.
"That is what happens when you kill something with magic. A piece of your soul is destroyed in proportion to the size of the soul that was destroyed."
"You could have told me that instead." Asural said angrily.
"Yes I could have, but you wouldn't have known the full weight of what would happen and made that mistake at a critical time. In addition, you also can't bring anybody back from the dead, because it is impossible to create souls."
"Why can't I kill with magic?"
"Remember how I was saying that Gramarye and Nexus are opposites? Well Gramarye is very good at killing and protecting others. Nexus, for the most part, can only be used on one's self and the elements around them. And this brings us to the final part of the training." Jae paused for a second and continued, "Nexus's main ability is to draw out your inner power in order to sustain yourself physically with magic."
"Is that why you always beat me when we spar?"
"Yes, but I only use it to help you improve. I only use a small amount, in order to assure that I remain above your level. I could still beat you without its help but it teaches you more if I don't tire as easily."
The final two weeks of training were primarily spent sparring. Asural hit Jae on the fourth day and was so surprised that he dropped his guard and received a hard jab in the stomach with her sword.
Jae and Asural were fighting on even terms by the end of the two weeks and their fights sometimes lasted for five or more intense hours.
At the end of the training Jae congratulated Asural on making it through the training and told him, "I have two things to tell you before we're completely done with the training. The first is, you may have completed the training and learned everything there is to know about the Nexus, but there is still one thing left for you to learn and you must discover that for yourself. It is a power unique to each person that uses the Nexus and only a few people have been able to find it within themselves."
"Have you found your power?"
"Yes and I hope I never have to use it."
"Oh," said Asural, secretly hoping to see it one day. "What is the other thing you have to tell me?"
"Doruin is also a user of Nexus. The reason they are so dangerous is that their minds are linked into a single consciousness."
"How is that possible?"
"I don't know, that's what I was trying to figure out before I found you."
That night as they were sitting by the fire Asural asked, "Did Tial discover his power?"
"He discovered it just as we were about to be captured by Doruin. His power was to teleport, but he only had enough time to get me away from danger."
As a final note, nothing happened between Jae and Asural during the training. (Jae would have pinned him to a tree for a full day, not fun) (you people with dirty minds shame on you)
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