Chapter 16

Despite the best efforts of many, time marches on. It waits for no one, so all you can do is accept it and keep moving forward. For example, the explosion currently going off in my face, it would be real handy if I could go back in time to avoid it, but that's sadly impossible, so deal with it I must.

I flared my barrier, flowing energy into it to bolster my shield, just before the explosion hit. It threw me back, the concussive force lifting me off my feet and making my barrier flicker. If this was the first time this had happened, I would have been left on my back, vulnerable to further attacks. It was not the first time and will sadly probably not be the last. Pulling my knees up, I swung my arms above and behind me, the two simultaneous movements enough to flip me over completely just as my feet slammed into the ground, skidding back. I had to lean forward a touch and bend my knees to prevent from falling over, but I stuck the landing beautifully. I looked up to find Aria smirking at me.

"Why is it always the face?"

"It's the funniest." She shrugs, and I sigh having expected the answer. "You're still too slow forming it. That's not even considering what you would do if you could form it."

I sigh, knowing she's right. We're currently taking a break from the constant sparring to work on techniques, specifically my technique. Aria was fascinated by it, probably because it made a big explosion. She sure is predictable like that.

…

It's going to be glorious when I perfect it.

Which may be a while, I'm having some trouble with it. I've been training it on and off for months now under Aria's supervision, and while I've made progress there's still a long way to go.

The first thing we tried was to scale it back a bit, as the first one I used had quite a bit of collateral damage added to it. No luck though, as it basically went strong singularity, then massive explosion. I couldn't make it noticeably smaller than the first time, so instead I just had to make sure it was aimed really far from me. The minimum size didn't really bother me, but it did limit the versatility of the technique, so it would be my last resort. Maybe for when I had to destroy a spaceship or something.

That part of practicing the technique was fun, but it was more to figure out how small it could go. The main thing blocking it from being a practical technique was how long it took to charge up. The energy requirement was massive, dwarfing anything else I could currently pull out as it used a quantity of energy I can't normally control. Something about the energy vortex seemed to help, and it's not exactly a delicate technique, you just stuffed as much energy into as small a space as you could, then threw the resulting mass of energy. I could likely achieve similar energy levels with my shockwaves if the energy density wouldn't melt my arm.

Aria didn't really have any tips for improving the charge up time though. She had admitted to me, somewhat embarrassed by the fact, that she couldn't control the amount of energy needed for the singularity to collapse. It was something unique to me, as far as she could tell. I had some doubts at that, but I'll take her word for it. As she had no idea how to improve, and I wouldn't have a clue, all I could really do is practice until it improved. It took a lot of work, but I've made some progress, enough that I can at least tell it takes less time. The process is laborious though and has left a massive crater in out sparring dock big enough to cover the facility, there's an idea.

That's where Aria's 'encouragement' comes in. Supposedly having an explosion aimed at me should motivate me to speed up the technique, but I reckon Aria just wanted to throw explosions at me without retaliation. She hasn't been able to do that to me for a long time, our fights are close now and Aria's resorted to using dirty tricks to eke out wins. I don't know how, but I still haven't won yet. It'll happen though.

"You thought of a name for it yet?" Aria's question snapped me out of my irritation. That was the other bit I was struggling with, I've had months to name it but still nothing. I finally figured it out yesterday though. I nodded at Aria, who was suddenly paying much closer attention to me, eyes bright. She'd asked me that same question countless times already, each time I didn't have an answer so that's what she was always expecting. I think she was mostly trying to annoy me at this point, but no longer will she be able to, I wish.

The silence between us stretches long enough that Aria frowns at me, only then do I answer. Serves her right, after all the shade she's given me about finding a name.

"Void's Fury" Aria raises her eyebrow but chuckles all the same.

"A little on the nose." I shrug, I'm not great at subtlety.

I had struggled with calling it void's fury, or leaving it at void, but I eventually decided on the first. Void only really fit the initial suction, the explosion was the fury. If I so happened to also hold the alias Fury, well that was a happy little accident.

It will be my ultimate technique, my Hail Mary, just like Aria's is flare, it's sheer destructive potential makes sure of it. The one thing that both scares and excites me though, is that I know I could put more energy into it. It requires a lot now, but that's mainly just to create intense enough gravitational pull to suck in the matter that creates the explosion. My current theory is that the explosion will scale exponentially with the energy I put it. I currently put in less than a tenth of my reserves as it is, and as far as I can tell said reserves are growing. As in I can handle more energy from the seemingly inexhaustible well within me. I may have been simplifying things when I mentioned reserves, basically you have a specific amount you can draw on at once before needing to wait for it to recover. This creates mental strain that builds up as you keep recharging until you have exhausted your mental capacity enough that you need to sleep before recovering, sometimes even longer if the exertion was great enough. When Aria mentioned my reserves being on par with matriarchs and beyond, its that I can pull out as much energy in an instant and my daily limit is immense. Over time, you can grow used to the mental strain and push a little further, that's why the limit increases. You do hit a wall at some point, but I'm nowhere near it yet. The long explanation is annoying, so I find it easier to just call it reserves.

It isn't quick, and I only noticed a few months ago when I realised how much energy I was expending without running out, but my reserves are increasing. Aria hadn't seemed surprised either, as I was still young and untrained. The effect will slow down eventually, it would have to otherwise Asari matriarchs would be unstoppable at their age, but my rate of energy increase was abnormal. A small gift from the facility I guess.

I wonder how large explosions can get? Something to think about tonight when I'm alone.

It isn't the only technique I'm currently working on, but I'm capable of performing all the rest decently. Aria decided that I had learned enough techniques for now, as the other ones required very fine control or a biological advantage I didn't possess.

Rather than bang my head against a wall to learn techniques I would likely never be great at, Aria decided I should polish what I already know, which is still a lot. I know more techniques than many biotics ever do, mostly because my energy reserves either help me practice or make techniques possible. In general, the barrier to learning more advanced techniques is always control, regardless of species, providing you had decent reserves. The thing is, Asari and Krogan live far longer than other races, giving them far more time to learn. Not that most Krogan take advantage of this, but it shows with the Asari. Some techniques are believed to be Asari-exclusive they are so difficult, but that isn't true. All biotic techniques are available to anyone, as long as they have the control and the reserves to pull them off. Very few techniques on this level are reserve restrictive, Aria's flare being a good example. Mine is an even more extreme example.

This basically means that control is the thing you are always trying to learn, and while it is important, there is a trick. If you don't care about wasting energy, you can cheat a little. This only works so much and isn't something you generally want to do, but it works for me. Most of my techniques are throwing around massive quantities of energy, which never requires much fine control. Everything else isn't too control dependent, so I can get away with cheating a little while I'm learning how to do them.

The whole psycho-somatic nature of biotic techniques does mean that you can brute force said control for techniques you practice enough, it just takes time. That's what I'm doing now, practicing old techniques to improve my proficiency with them. I've long since mastered my barrier, although there is a trick with it I'm currently trying to achieve that I haven't figured out, but my basic techniques could always use work. A big part of my focus is speeding up techniques, shortening the gestures and just in general reducing how long it takes for me to shoot off my attacks. It's like how even in the facility, some smaller explosive spheres I could through almost immediately while others I had to charge up. All techniques can be improved that way, and while I'm not striving for perfection practicing the basics more always helps.

Aria is taking great pleasure in beating the techniques into me in our fights. She no longer lets me charge up my attacks like she once did, instead our fights are often close range and fast paced. This is restrictive for both her and I, but it helps her far more. I don't have any real technique regarding close combat, I've always won through speed, being able to take a punch and sheer brutality. Aria has all of that as well, in addition to CQC training.

It wasn't always like this, but many of our fights effectively boiled down to enhanced fist fights. We both used barriers and biotically enhanced our strength and fought each other with punches and kicks. It didn't really go well for me, what with Aria's greater experience with it, but I won't lie. Even if the fights always end with my form bloody and broken, knocked down onto the ground, it's really fun. It's been a while since I got to have a proper fist fight, not really since the facility, and as much as I despised my time there, it had given me an appreciation for beating someone with my fists. I would prefer the fights be a little more even though, so I asked Aria to teach me technique. She refused though, claiming she wasn't capable of teaching it herself, having learned from experience with no formal training involved. Instead, she directed me to ask some of the dancers at the club, mentioning the martial art Rielle had previously told me about. While annoyed at Aria, I was interested enough to ask a dancer.

It's been a while since I've relaxed in the club, not since before Rielle arrived. Seeing as I effectively hadn't really worked for almost 2 months, there was a bit of a backlog I had to deal with. Rather than assign what I did to anyone else, Aria left it until I could do it myself. I can see why, as aside from guarding her I don't do much regularly, but there was a few things I had to look over all the same as the tasks were generally sensitive. It took me a while to do that, and Aria was also just chattier in general. She was chatty before we had our talk, but it was almost mindless at times. Now, we talked more in general, often about nothing but it ended up taking up more of my time, so Aria just had me take my breaks with her for a while.

She also took up so much time as she was trying to get me a meeting with Liselle and wanted me prepared for it. It did eventually happen, but … it wasn't all Aria hoped for. Liselle was closed off to say the least, and I had no real incentive to close the gap myself. I tried to the best of my abilities, but I really wasn't the one that bridges the gap in these scenarios so not much came of it. I learned a little more about Liselle, and her me, but she became even more closed off after Aria started praising me. I enjoyed the praise, Liselle? Not as much. She left shortly after, and that was the only time I've met her so far. Aria was subdued for the rest of that day, and I tried to help but there wasn't much I could do. I couldn't just go and punch Liselle, it wouldn't really help Aria feel better no matter how satisfying it would be.

Any who, all of that effectively meant I haven't yet been in the club proper since I got my tattoos. It was different, I can say that much. I'm getting far more looks now than I once did, likely because my clothes are more revealing and probably mostly because tattoos like mine are rare. I'm a little uncomfortable with all the attention, but do my best to ignore it, taking a seat at the bar. I just sit there, sipping on my drink for a while before I ask to talk to one of the dancers. I was waiting for a specific one, the first that ever danced for me, Bari. She was also the friendliest with me. I followed my normal routine where I would sip at some sort of non-alcoholic drink, ignoring anyone who tried to talk to me, then go and find a free dancer. I was comfortable enough with Aria to drink with her, but only her.

Thankfully, no one tried to talk to me before I finished my drink, do I look more intimidating with the tattoos? I hope so. I stood up once my drink was done and looked around. I was lucky today, it didn't take me long to find Bari, she was even free. I wasted no time in walking over there, weaving through the crowd with no struggle. While I would optimistically shove people out of the way or make them move for me, I'm still quite below the average height around here. Trying it outside of my armour is just asking for trouble.

"Can I help you?" Bari asked me, a pleasant smile on her face but no recognition showing. What?

"A private dance." I asked her directly, and her face lit up in recognition. Maybe she just didn't recognise what I looked like, I can understand considering how big of a change it was.

"Of course." Bari smiled pleasantly, taking my hand in hers and leading me off to one of the private areas.

"I didn't recognise you there, you look lovely!" she chirped

"Thank you." I offered quietly as we reached the room and Bari directed me to the chair.

"I actually wanted to ask you something."

"Mhm? And what may that be." Bari smirked, her gate swaying as she sauntered up to me, running a hand over her front. That certainly distracted me for a moment, but I tried to ignore it for now.

"I have been told by a friend that Asari Maidens learn a specific martial art before doing, this-" I waved my arm at her swaying form. She had begun the start of her dance almost without my notice and I couldn't help letting my eyes wander even as I continued talking. "-and I was interested in …" Bari lowered the zip on the front of the top as she smiled at me innocently and my words trailed off. I had never really … noticed her movements quite like this before, or the other dancers for that matter. After my time with Rielle though, the movements were reminding me of what I did with her. I could feel my cheeks warming up at the thought, and I had to lick my dry lips.

"… maybe it can wait until after the dance."

Bari grinned at my reaction to her, enthusiastic like I hadn't seen before. Maybe I'm the one that's changed, but I didn't remember the movements being quite so, suggestive. Now that I had something to compare them to, well … you get the picture.

I couldn't tell you how long the dance went on, it all blurred together. What I can tell you Is that Bari pulled out all the stops today, far more than she normally would for me. She twisted, contorted, and writhed around. Running her hands up and down her frame, turning around and bending over. The thing that really surprised me was when she lost her top and bottom clothing, that, and the moaning. This left her in some very small underwear. I swear I almost passed out when she started teasing at taking off more, tugging things this way and that, but that was all it was, a tease. I don't know if I felt disappointed or not at that, but she certainly had my attention.

Bari straightened out of her final bent over position, a coquettish smile present on her face as she sauntered up to me, and to my surprise she took a seat in my lap! She was warm, and soft and … oh. She just wrapped herself around me now, getting as close as she physically could.

"Now, you said you wanted to … talk?" Bari breathed into my ear, trailing her hand over my skin. What was I trying to say again …? The martial art, that's right. I swallowed roughly and found myself only somewhat surprised at how my voice had deepened.

"A friend of mine mentioned that to do, this sort of thing, you learn a martial art? I was … wondering if you would teach me it." My entire face felt warm now. Bari's mouth was very close to my neck, I could feel her breath washing over my skin.

"I would be happy to teach you, for a price" Bari purred. "Here's my contact details, we can discuss terms after my shift." She inputted her details into my Omni-tool. She wasn't really wearing her own right now.

"And, done!" she chirped. "I'll talk to you later ..." That allowed me to focus a little bit. I'd never actually told her my name, as Fury was the only one I'd had before and I was trying to stay anonymous out of the armour.

"It's Jack." Bari stared into my eyes for a moment, surprised, but nodded grinning.

"I'll see you later then Jack, until … next time." Bari breathed the last words into my ear, then to my shock planted her lips on my check, almost brushing the corner of my lip. She stopped ever so slowly, a satisfied look on her face as she got up from her seat on me, gathered her clothes and walked off, her hips swaying distractingly. I had to sit there for a moment, dazed and flushed at the same time.

This … could be interesting.

The door closed softly behind me, now locked from the outside, as I walked after Bari. The dancers at the club apparently get their own space for practicing in, courtesy of Aria. No one who wasn't allowed could access it without permission, not even me, Bari had to let me in. This was to help protect the dancers from any unruly patrons that had enough patience to wait until the enforcers could no longer see them.

The room we just walked into was a large, open space. Mirrors covered most of the walls and there seemed to be exercise equipment stored in one corner, possibly some torture devices too, not really sure. There was a few more doorways that led out of the room, but Bari hasn't mentioned them so I think they may be the private rooms of the dancers. It's possible. My eyes focused again on Bari when she twirled around to face me, we were now in the middle of the room. She clapped her hands in front of her, eyes bright with a large smile on her face.

"We can begin now! You should take off your jacket first though."

Fair enough. Bari had asked me to come in flexible clothes, which as far as I could tell meant revealing. It gave me wider range of motion, that's for sure. Per her request, I was just wearing a singlet and some of my stretchy pants that Rielle helped me get for just such an occasion. The jacket was because it got annoying to have to constantly glare at people in the club to back off. I slipped it off and set it to the side, alongside my Omni-tool, before turning back to Bari who I found taking off her shoes. She was wearing similar clothes to me, although her top didn't cover her stomach, leaving the skin bare. She noticed my staring after a minute.

"Oh yeah, take your shoes off too, it makes it easier."

May as well, so I untied the laces of my trusty boots before taking them off. I hope the floor is durable, because I have a feeling my metal foot might have something to say otherwise.

"Why are you wearing one sock?" she tilted her head to the side. Rather than explaining, I raised the pant leg up to where the amputation was, then tapped the foot. The metal ringing was explanation for Bari, as her eyes widened and she froze, eyes on my foot.

"Oh, I'm sorry for staring." She hunched, looking away. I'm not sure why, I thought my foot was interesting.

"Eh." I shrugged, unconcerned. My lack of offense seemed to calm Bari down, who decided to ignore it.

"Before we do anything else, I need to see how flexible you are so I'll be running you through some stretches, just copy what I do. Let's start off easy." Bari then leaned over and touched her toes, keeping her legs straight. Seems easy enough, so I began reaching down towards my feet, but my legs quickly started bending. Trying to keep them straight didn't really work as I could feel the strain almost immediately, long before I reached the ground.

Turns out I'm not very flexible.

The next half hour was not fun, as we thoroughly tested just how inflexible I really am. I could manage almost none of the stretches Bari demonstrated, which quickly got frustrating and as such I wasn't in the best of moods.

"Okay…" Bari sighed, straightening out of the last position. "So, there are a few things to work on." She winced, then waved her hands in front of her, "…not that there's anything wrong with that. We can work on your flexibility, but it's far from the only thing important for Jia'nor. Let's continue."

I grunted my assent, which was all I could do to resist snapping at her. It wouldn't be right to take my frustration out on her. Let me find a proper target first …

Thankfully for my sanity, I was far better at balancing then stretching. While the two were connected, there was more to balancing than stretching. Bari ran me through various poses and positions, altering my centre of balance wildly just to see if I could maintain the poses. We had to skip some of the poses as I couldn't actually do them, let alone maintain them.

"You're better at that then I thought you'd be, so let's try something harder. I want you to follow my movement again, I'll repeat the sequence a few times for you to get a feel for it."

Bari then began by leaning forward on one leg, the other sticking out behind her until her torso was parallel to the ground. She maintained the position for a moment before she began rotating around her leg, swinging her arm out in a motion that looked rather difficult to me. This rotation continued until she was leaning backwards, her other leg extended in front of her, her toes pointed. She wasn't leaning back far at first but ever so slowly she increased the decline, her arms above her head, until she could seemingly no longer hold it. This lead to her tipping back until her hands made contact with the ground, the foot that was still in contact with the ground lifting up until she paused in a full handstand. She kept this position for a good 10 seconds, then one leg began moving to the side as the opposite hand lifted off the ground, moving sideways as well. She held this final position for only a short time before returning to a handstand and letting her feet fall behind her, legs tucked. She finally stood up from her crouched form, and exhaled a calm breath.

That was … wow. The entire motion was smooth, graceful, seemingly effortless. I am … a lot less confident than I was a minute ago. I watched her go through the routine a few more times before it was my turn to give it a go. I did, try that is. The first position was simple enough, and while the initial rotation was a little wobbly I managed it. The moment I began tipping back though, my foot lost its grip and I began to fall back. I tensed up, waiting for the impact, when strong hands caught me before lowering me to the ground.

"There we are, you alright Jack?" I nodded. "I didn't expect you to be able to do that, … I may have shown you an advanced set?" Bari grinned cheekily at me, and I sighed in acceptance. "still, up we go!" Bari grabbed my hand and pulled me up effortlessly using it. She's a lot stronger than she looks. But then again she's quite tall for an Asari, far taller than me.

"You have good balance, don't get me wrong, but you can always improve it. That's something else we'll work on as well as your flexibility. Do you need a break before we continue?"

I shook my head, I hadn't even started to sweat yet. None of what we did so far was particularly strenuous.

"I also want to see how you fight, the form you use. Get into whatever position you normally hold while fighting." Bari told me. The form I use? I mean, I raise my hands? Is there anything more to It than that? Having nothing better to go off, I raised my fists in front of me, hunching over a bit to make my head less of a target.

"Is … that it?"

What that was supposed to mean. I wasn't sure, but Bari's sigh wasn't a great sign.

"Pretend you're fighting someone, how would you deal with them?" That, I can do. I look back at many of the fights I've had in the past, choosing one of the spectres in my mind as my opponent. I visualise them standing across from me, can almost see them. I watch for a moment as they approach, waiting for the right time before ducking beneath the imaginary fist.

I deflect the second attack, then launch a fist into the illusionary stomach. The blow was fast, brutal and the lack of recoil threw me off balance. I adjusted after a moment, growing used to it as I continued my fight. Stepping back at times, pushing forward at others, throwing out a few kicks before I got in close one final time, jumping off one leg and the other knee raising to hit my opponent's face. That's how I finished that particular Batarian.

Having finished the imaginary fight, I turn back to Bari who was standing there with wide eyes.

"That was … really good. You are basically a brawler, but you're fast. I could barely follow some of your movements there. Just, how many fights have you been in?" Bari muttered the last question, but I heard her all the same.

"Many." The silence between us was a little awkward, but Bari shook it off soon enough.

"Having seen that, I also want to check your physicality, see how much you can handle. You alright with that?" Now we're back on familiar ground.

"Fine with it, if you can even manage to do so." I boasted, knowing this was something I was good at. Bari raised an eyebrow at my sudden confidence.

"Is that so? I don't suppose you'd be up for a little competition then?" Bari smirked at me, I gave one back. The familiar ground let me feel comfortable enough to properly talk with her.

"What will I win?"

"That'll will be decided later, and I wouldn't be so confident if I were you."

Nothing else needed to be said, so we began.

We started out simply with basic movements. Push-ups, sit-ups, holding positions, nothing particularly strenuous for me. Bari showed a similar lack of concern, so we moved on to the harder stuff, breaking out the equipment in the corner.

Many of the devices would expand when turned on, containing moving parts that held more resistance than I thought they would. The resistance could be increased as well, to my surprise. I was sweating before we began using the devices, but now I began to struggle, especially as the resistance increased. What annoyed me the most was that Bari wasn't struggling too much, as aside from a slight sheen of sweat on her and a raised breath, she was fine. I was another story, drenched in sweat with my clothes clinging to me. My singlet was practically painted on now, it was clinging so tightly. My lungs were also burning like I'd just been through a hard fight with Aria, the rest of my muscles burning and shaking as well. I'd never noticed these effects as much, considering the pounding headaches I would get when pushed this far with Aria. Not using biotics meant I only had to deal with the feelings in my body. I'm not going to lie, I was enjoying it. Who knew that not having a headache made things more enjoyable?

Nothing can last forever though, and I soon collapsed onto the ground, exhausted and groaning. I heard Bari chuckle as she sat next to me, far less tired.

"Told you, you were being too confident."

I raised my weak arm, raising my middle finger at her. It felt deserved but Bari just laughed, the noise almost musical.

"You need to stretch before anything else otherwise you'll stiffen up too much. Come on, up you get." I made no move to get up, closing my eyes not wanting to. Unfortunately, Bari then began prodding me with her foot. I resisted for a minute, but finally gave in and opened my eyes and glared at her. She grinned cheekily down at me, offering her hand. I took it, and she pulled me onto my feet.

Bari then ran me through a few different stretches, before I ended up sitting on the floor, my legs spread wide with Bari pushing my torso forward. She use a firm, but gentle, pressure to push me as far forward as I could go. Can't say I enjoyed it, but Bari leaning into my back was kind of nice, excluding how we were both quite sweaty.

"You did even better than I thought you would, you're in phenomenal shape. How'd you get that way anyway?" I shrugged. Probably all the explosion dodging Aria has me doing. "I only won because I may have … cheated a little?" What? I turned my head to look at Bari, her face close to mine. She giggled a little at my deadpan stare. "Yeah, I may have used my biotics a little to help give me an edge. I would have bowed out far before you otherwise." Using her biotics, how? I can enhance myself, sure, but not without being noticed. The blue glow is a kind of obvious indicator. I'm certain there wasn't an aura around Bari, I was watching her intently the entire time.

"How'd you use your biotics to help?" I asked, curious. Bari hummed into my ear.

"It's a bit tricky, but the basic premise is that I flood energy into my muscles while they contract, letting the energy take most of the strain. I then take it out as they expend. It took me a long time to learn how as the control required is intense. For an Asari, I don't have large reserves, certainly not enough to waste on the flashier reinforcement. My form is far more efficient but won't really increase my strength much. It's more about enhancing endurance than anything."

"Damn, probably wouldn't work for me then." That sounds like fine-tune control I don't really have, not sure I ever will. Who knows how long it would take me to learn. Besides, I can do the fun reinforcement anyway. Why bother being able to outlast an opponent when I can just punch their head off? At least that's what I'm telling myself.

"Wait, are you a biotic as well?" Bari asked, shocked. I didn't think I had hidden it that well, had I?

"Did you … not know?" Bari shook her head. "Oh, then yes, I am. Wouldn't really help me much though, not for this purpose. My control could be better." Bari suddenly jumped up, surprising me. She pulled me up with a grin on her face, particularly cheery.

"This changes things! I didn't think you could learn some parts of Jia'nor, the one's requiring biotics. We have far more we can do now!" Bari then hugged me, practically vibrating. I may have frozen at the sudden contact, but I gave her back an awkward hug when my brain rebooted. The pat on her shoulder was a nice touch, and it got her to let go and step back. I was surprised I even let her hug me, but I was feeling … comfortable with her, more than I thought I would. Was this what Rielle was talking about when she left Omega?

"Can I ask how much experience you have with biotics, how good you are? Jia'nor doesn't require too much but there is a basic level you need to be at for it."

"I've been told I'm at the level of special forces." I shrug. Aria said I was better than the Asari Huntress actually, but I should try to downplay it.

"That's great. Human Biotic specialists are plenty good enough for what you would need. This is going to be great!" Did she say human? … she must have misunderstood what I meant. That's okay though, in hindsight a human on the level of Asari Huntresses would be a bit conspicuous.

"That'll be all for today though, you need to go get some rest. We'll begin properly next time …, oh and come dressed as you have today." Bari informed me and I nodded. I went over and picked up my omni-tool and put on my jacket, then turned to leave. Before I could though, Bari's hand stopped me.

"This was fun, I'll see you next time." And with a twinkle in her eye, she kissed my cheek then shoved me through the door, waving as it closed.

That kiss on the cheek, … might explain some of her behaviour. Not sure exactly what she means though, guess I ask Rielle? She should know.

"How's dance practice going kiddo?" Aria asked me as I limped in, smirking. I flipped her off without saying anything, heading straight for the drink I took a big sip from. Only then did I look at Aria, after sitting down gingerly. Aria looked very amused from her seat, a shit-eating grin on her face.

I may have tried to hide what I was doing with Bari from Aria, not that I ever lied or anything but I just …didn't tell her. I'm not sure why, but mostly because it was a little embarrassing. Case in point, this situation. I guess I wasn't very subtle, as she found out within the first week. She's been teasing me about it ever since. Admittedly, being all stiff and sore before our fights even began may have been a red flag, something that slipped my mind at the time. It's not my fault increasing flexibility is a bitch, or the physical conditioning we do after. I winced at the thought, my muscled all throbbing in unison and Aria chuckled at me.

I glared at her, but that's about all I could do at the moment. Considering how I was still growing used to the Jia'nor training, our sparring was temporarily on hold. We were still practicing techniques, especially 'Void's Fury'. Nothing new with any of my techniques but I was making small, steady progress, which was enough for me. I actually wanted to try my hand at improving my reinforcement, but that will have to wait for when my muscles aren't trying to kill me.

"I remember well what you're going through, and I have to say it's much more fun being on this end." What, Aria has gone through Jia'nor training? My annoyance disappeared as I looked at her curiously.

"I've done a lot of things in my life, and do you really think I wouldn't learn a biotic focused martial art?" Yeah, that makes sense. "I am a little surprised Bari was so willing to teach you though."

"What?"

"Jia'nor isn't taught to just anyone, you must trust them for one. The fact she was willing to teach you before she knew you were biotic is especially telling. Just something to think about. Although, you have spent a decent amount of time with the dancers, and you always treated them well." Aria sipped at her drink, not explaining further and I already knew she wouldn't even if I asked. What did she mean by that? I'm too sore to think right now.

Bari was certainly holding nothing back while training me. So far we've been focusing more on my physical conditioning, which included improving my flexibility and balance. The flexibility was what I struggled with the most and is what we spent the most time working on. Bari's had me hold lots of weird, contorted positions that honestly make me wish I was sparring with Aria instead. A lot of the time she was the one holding me in those position, as well as pushing me further than I would personally like.

We also did physical conditioning using the equipment they had, as better strength and endurance never hurt. I did some research about it, apparently Asari aren't as physically strong as Human's are, it's part of their whole mind-melding and naturally biotic nature. Because they were a more diplomatic focused species as they were evolving, there was less need for physical might. It wasn't by too much, but it was noticeable compared to humans before biotics were included. We evolved through constant fighting and killing and had no access to biotics, so we have a little more brawn.

The balancing bit was mostly a combination of the two, requiring flexibility to get into positions and strength to hold them. I especially needed Bari's help with this part, and she spent pretty much the entire time with her hands on me, making sure I didn't fall over or overcompensate.

All of this wasn't necessary before beginning Jia'nor, but it helped according to Bari. I decided to trust her word after I couldn't find anything online about it and Rielle didn't know herself, having not gone through it. So, I just went along with it, as this physical conditioning would help me down the line regardless.

We were often alone while we were doing this, but not always. Some of the other dancers would do their own things or sometimes just watch from the sidelines, but they were friendly. Honestly, they were all kind of flirty, Bari being the worst offender. They all made sure to introduce themselves to me properly, all of them huggers. That was a good day.

It did get to me sometimes, and I wasn't quite sure how to handle all the attention I was receiving from them. They must have smelled weakness or something, as they never let up. Rielle was no help when asked, as she just responding with an audio file of her laughing when I asked. Traitor.