Chapter 16: Arduous training
Sweat poured down Nozna's head, stinging his eyes as he panted heavily. His whole body ached as he laid on the floor.
Khamat had let Tomir spar with Nozna to gauge his current abilities, but they quickly realised that he had no experience in hand to hand combat. Tomir had effortlessly subdued him.
"It is important that you at least learn to defend yourself," Khamat reassured.
Nozna groaned as he slowly got to his feet.
Khamat's firm voice reached him again, "Maintain your balance, don't always block, look for dodges as well."
Nozna planted his feet firmly on the ground, raising his fists in front of his face.
He looked at Tomir.
His blue-haired sparring partner wore a still expression, his ruby eyes were locked onto Nozna, devoid of emotion.
Without warning, Tomir surged forward. The leaves beneath him scattered as he closed the distance in a blur.
Nozna's eyes widened.
His breathing grew shallow as his heart began to loudly thud in his chest. Tendrils of panic and fear began to swallow his limbs.
He's going to hit me, we're fighting! I-
Nozna stepped backwards and lifted his fists to cover his entire face.
At the same time, Tomir threw a punch.
Tomir's fist buried itself into Nozna's stomach. ,
Pain exploded across his torso as the air fled his lungs. His feet left the ground for a moment, before landing with a thud on the ground.
Nozna curled slightly on the ground, coughing aggressively. His vision blurred at the edges as he trembled.
Khamat carefully observed this. "You are afraid."
Nozna wrapped his head into his arms. "I- I can't."
He didn't want to fight, he was scared of being hurt, of being killed.
But he was also scared of not being able to protect anyone.
"At ease." Khamat squatted down and put a hand on Nozna. "Breath in and out, slowly. It's alright to be afraid of getting hurt, there's nothing wrong with fearing death."
Nozna didn't answer.
His breathing was still erratic, his arms wrapped tightly around himself.
"Do you remember what I said?"
"Fear is growth. Don't let fear control how you live. Let it control how you grow."
Khamat's emerald green eyes stared at him
"You can start by facing your fears."
Suddenly, his voice erupted in Nozna's head.
And by that, I mean to use your will.
That line seemed to wake Nozna up from his despair. Use my will?
You don't need to ask yourself why you fear it. Calm down, and breathe. Meet your fear head on.
Choose to act, even as it claws at you.
Move through it.
Will yourself.
Nozna repeated his captain's words in his head.
Choose to act, even as it claws at you.
Nozna gritted his teeth as he stood up. He didn't bother brushing off the dust and dirt that clung to his clothes. He had other things to worry about.
Tomir rushed at him again.
Nozna's breath quickened. His heart pounded loud and fast as panic and fear crawled through his limbs again.
But this time, Nozna's leg didn't stay frozen. Trembling, Nozna clumsily jumped to his left and barely managed to dodge Tomir's initial strike.
"I did it–"
The triumphant thought didn't last long.
In one quick motion, Tomir spun.
His leg arched through the air as his foot struck Nozna clean across the face, making the young boy crash to the ground once more.
Seeing this, Khamat gestured Tomir to stop.
Without a word, Tomir nodded at Khamat and turned, walking away.
"You did well, Nozna." Khamat praised as he stepped towards Nozna. "I'll spend the rest of the evening teaching you basic strikes and footwork."
Nozna, full of grim and dirt, nodded silently as he gasped for air.
He raised his palm to his face.
What's with that Tomir guy? Did he have to hit me that hard?
We're both Tier 8 Arcans, so why is he so much stronger?
…
The sun began to sink on the horizon.
Nozna squatted on the ground, drenched in sweat. His limbs were aching and his breath shallow.
Khamat had taught him the basic strikes and footwork: Punches, hooks, low kicks and side steps.
Over and over, Khamat relentlessly drilled into Nozna the precise movements and strikes, adjusting the boy's form whenever needed.
He had also made Nozna do push ups and running.
During the training, his captain had also noticed something.
Nozna had strength stronger than a normal human.
Of course, Nozna had always known he was strong, but he thought it had been because he went lumberjacking with his father from a young age.
But his kicking strength was also strong, and lumberjacking did not involve as much kicking as swinging.
So Khamat surmised that increased physical strength was one of Nozna's Arcan powers.
Khamat stared at Nozna. "Let's end it here for today."
Maintaining his straight face, Khamat added. "Don't forget to study your Aranese. I hope to be able to write you proper letters in Aranese soon."
Still catching his breath, Nozna chuckled as he looked up at Khamat. He tried to mask his chuckle as a cough when he saw that Khamat didn't change his expression.
His stoic face was unreadable and fierce.
Is that the look of someone disappointed in his new recruit? Nozna inwardly grumbled.
Curious, Nozna then asked, "C- Captain… this morning, why did you write the letter to me in Aranese?"
"One has to always exercise caution." Khamat explained, "There was a chance that others would read the letter before it was handed over to you."
Nozna stayed silently for a few seconds.
"One more thing," Khamat interrupted. "The people from our organisation have responded. From my descriptions of your Arcan creature, they have narrowed it down to a few possibilities."
"Since you told them about my Arcan creature, won't they suspect you have found a new spectra?"
"Don't worry, whilst humans only have the recipes for twenty Spectras, there are speculations on the existence of more Spectras, where Arcan powers do not belong to current known Spectras. For example, there isn't a Frost Spectra, but there are Arcan creatures with frost powers."
Nozna was slightly disappointed, he had thought his powers were of a brand new Spectra. It turns out that there were also other Spectras out there that humans didn't control. So it was technically not 'new'.
Khamat finished explaining. "We occasionally run into Arcan creatures that may not fit any of the twenty Spectras currently controlled by humanity, it is absolutely normal to update the researchers at our headquarters about such encounters. Knowledge is power."
Nozna almost frowned. Researchers?
There seemed to be a lot of things about his organisation that he did not know. Of course, they were all on the sheets Khamat gave him, but he found its content boring so he did not decide to study it yet.
Khamat continued, "I did not mention our encounter. From their point of view, it just seems as if I ran into the Arcan creature."
"Captain, since there are more than twenty Spectras, why does humanity not control the other Spectras?"
"Our ancestors only found complete Tiers for twenty Spectras. As for the other Spectras, it is simply due to a lack of recipe information and an incentive to experiment with the Arcan materials to concoct a safe recipe."
"But there are some organisations who attempt to experiment. For example, the Devil Shroud is rumoured to hold the Devil Spectra. The Devil Spectra is not officially recognised as humanity's twenty Spectras, but I assume they hunt Arcan creatures that may fall into the category or theme of their Spectra and experiment with different recipes."
"I see…"
"Unfortunately, you may have to take a similar route."
"The first step is to establish the theme of your Spectra, and then we can find Arcan creatures that are part of your Spectra."
"Theme of my Spectra?"
"You need to come up with a name for your Tier, then it should be easier to come up with a theme." Khamat cautioned. "Remember, the name of the Tier should mostly depict your Arcan abilities. For example, a Leaper can leap very high, or a spy will specialise in stealth and disguise."
Nozna nodded.
"The researchers have seemed to narrow it down to three Arcan creatures." Khamat passed Nozna a neatly folded piece of paper. "Have a look at it in your own time."
Nozna put the piece of paper in his satchel.
Nozna cleared his throat before asking Khamat. He suddenly found his next question a little awkward for some reason.
"Will the two of you need food?"
Khamat smiled. "We'll be staying in hunting territory."
He paused, then added, "At ease." He finally offered Nozna a warm smile. "We'll meet again tonight."
"A- Alright." Nozna said.
With that, Khamat began to walk towards the north of the forest, disappearing into the thick shadows of the forest.
Nozna began to walk back to his hut, every inch of his body in pain. I managed to move against Tomir back then… I didn't freeze up completely!
This thought sparked a little excitement in Nozna.
I only met the captain two days ago, yet I feel oddly comfortable training and learning under him. As if he's been my teacher for years.
He may be hard to read at times, but he is like a trusted guardian. Is it something to do with his Arcan abilities?
I wonder what Spectra he is in…
He gritted his teeth and forced himself to trod back, ignoring the pain.
Upon returning to his hut, Nozna spoiled himself with some bread. He was too tired to cook up something so he settled with bread and fruits.
Ravenously chewing on the piece of bread, Nozna began to think.
Every tier has a name, and that name depicts what the Arcan is like.
For example, an actor can turn into anyone because they are acting like the person.
What is someone who makes people angry, can strengthen their physical and mental strength… and know how to use firearms? They are also stronger than the normal human…
A strengthener? None of my abilities make sense together.
The strengthening seems like support abilities…
But then why the strength and knowledge of firearms? Those two are definitely offensive traits…
Trait was a new word Nozna had learnt under Khamat. In fact, he had learnt many new vocabulary under Khamat the past two days.
Finishing his meal, Nozna retreated to his room where he started studying the sheets about Arcan knowledge.
He decided to study the Darkness spectra. It was the main Spectra in his organisation - Order of the Fallen Angels.
Nozna had also hoped to gain some inspiration for naming his Tier.
Darkness Spectra:
Recipe information: None
Tier information: One Tier 8, One Tier 7, One Tier 6, One Tier 5, One Tier 4, One Tier 3, One tier 2.
Tier 8: Traitor
Nozna paused.
What the hell? Traitor? The Tier names can be that…
Also the order seems to only have information up to tier 2, what about tier 1? I'll ask captain tonight. No, not in front of Da… I guess I'll wait until tomorrow.
Nozna continued reading.
Tier 8: Traitor
Traitor - Increase in movement speed, gain adeptness at using daggers, attacks that the enemy does not see coming will be imbued with Essence and be more fatal, gain the ability to silence their footsteps, gain the ability to make a convincing lie.
Nozna frowned as he began speculating. Is it called Traitor because they can lie?
Surprise attacks are more fatal… does that count as backstabbing?
Lying and backstabbing, those are a depiction of a Traitor?
Increased movement speed… is Tomir a Tier 8 Traitor? He could be…
Nozna continued reading.
Tier 7: Dark Morph
Dark Morph - Can imbue weapons or ammo with darkness, this masks all five senses from detecting the weapons in darkness. Can morph between darkness and flesh form, this takes two seconds to transform, darkness form can enter shadows or dark spaces but cannot physically move or affect the real environment, it is dispelled by light or any purification powers.
Tier 6 and above: Not qualified to know.
Nozna suddenly exclaimed.
What?
How come the Performance and Emotions Spectra showed up to Tier 5 but the Darkness Spectra stops at Tier 7?
Is it because this is the Spectra that the organisation controls?
They only want us to know about the other Spectras to be aware of the enemies, but knowing the organisation's core Spectras is too risky for new people like me?
Nozna sat back in his chair and began to theorize. His brows began to burrow as he sank deeper into his thoughts.
My ability to make people angry… it can be said that I am provoking people
My ability to physically and mentally enhance someone's strengths… A strengthener? A motivator?
My knowledge of firearms… My increased strength… I can't tell what they depict. Strength is too broad. What about firearms… strengths and firearms… strengths and firearms…
A hunter? If you swap the bow for the firearms… yes, a hunter would make sense…
Nozna gathered his thoughts together.
A provoker, a strengthener, a motivator, a hunter…
Combining all of those traits… I have no idea. What is something that provokes but also motivates? The hunter makes it more messed up... Ugh.
All of a sudden, his mouth parted in silent shock. Wait since when could I articulate and plan out my thoughts like this? Wait… I do skip school a lot, yet my monthly grades are much better than all my friends…
Is intelligence also a trait of my Tier? No, the high monthly grades are a result of good memory… but this seems to be thinking power… what did the captain call it?
Nozna began to think about something else.
I can use my two nightmares to help me!
The first scene… I am in a cradle and then get picked up by a lady, from there it is very chaotic… I can't remember exactly what happens, but the lady seems to die, there is a lot of noises in the background.
The second scene where I transform into an Arcan creature in almost darkness. Captain said it seemed like Berserkness…
What do these two nightmares mean? I'm a baby in both scenes.
Nozna's eyes widened as he skipped a breath.
Could it be when I became an Arcan?
Nozna decided to read on. He fiddled with the sheets, before finding the one he was most interested in.
Runic Powers:
There are three types of runic powers.
1) Essence runes - Using Essence to draw runic symbols to activate corresponding effects. This is the least potent form of runic powers.
2) Physical runes - Runes implanted onto Arcan materials through a ritual. There are two ways to increase the power of physical runes, either increasing the quality of the material, or increasing the tier of the runic symbols. The physical runes are activated through a chant. This is more potent than Essence runes.
3) Runic Ritual - A spell casting ritual done through a medium. The medium can be physical runes or Essence runes. This is the most potent form of runic power, but it is time consuming and not practical for most battles.
Nozna rubbed his head. This was a lot to take in.
Essence runes can only be done by Arcans who have Essence manifestation - only available after Tier 4.
There are Spectras with the ability to create Essence runes - Notably the Invention Spectra's Tier 7, Runes Scholar.
Physical runes are prepared ahead of battles. Corresponding rituals have to be performed to forge a Physical rune. The ritual will involve the Arcan pouring Essence into the runes.
Physical runes can be grouped into different Spectras, and have different Arcan abilities just like Arcans.
A physical rune will absorb pure Essence from the surrounding, so it must be sealed. It is not fully understood but the more pure Essence it absorbs from the surrounding, the weaker the effect of the physical rune would be.
This is speculated to be due to the clash of Essence type. Therefore sealing materials have to be from the same Spectra as the physical runes.
Whilst sealed, the sealing materials will have their own Essence be absorbed.
Nozna paused. He felt like he needed to re-read everything again, but reluctant to do so, he read forward.
Basic physical runes:
Message rune stone, Receiving rune stone, Basic Light rune stone…
Nozna set his sheets aside.
It was time to go to the tavern.