This section is an info dump if I am going to be honest, so be warned.
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The ZONE is something that can't be reached by just ordinary means, one cannot just train to reach it. The method is unknown but people who have reached this special area of life have said that they had reached something they couldn't fully explain. People have studied this form with people who had reached this area to see the method of what happened but even when the event is replicated, they don't enter this area again. This had caused the conclusion that when someone is under specific conditions, emotionally and physically, they would enter this.
That is the general conclusion at least.
For me, this was a rather simple thing. Frivolous really, because at the end of it all, the zone is something that is rather similar to something else in the world.
FLOW, while similar to ZONE in many ways, had been something that had existed for a long time. The ZONE is something that, for reasons unknown, only happens with Umas but the FLOW can happen with both.
It has been something that I had been interested in for a while, why are they different despite being the same thing at the end of the day. It was only on that day that I understood the difference between them.
ZONE causes one to forget the world around them, focus on themselves and the things they are doing. They only focus on a person when they are directly competing with said person. This causes one to become hyperaware to themselves physically and the person they're going against.
FLOW on the other hand is more instinctually aware of the people around them and, most importantly, the things they want. Someone in FLOW would do things they have been wanting to do even if they hadn't done such things in the past. It causes one to focus on their emotional and mental self to bring what they want into reality.
Those were the biggest differences that I could find between them.
There was also something that I found interesting when it came to FLOW, depending on someone's personality and state of mind they could unlock something that I couldn't understand. If someone is aware of people around them and likes to plan for things, when they enter FLOW, they would become extremely hyperaware of everyone around them and their minds process things at a faster pace. It is almost like they have started seeing things in a higher dimension.
I wanted to see if these 2 fields could merge or have even more similarities to each other. This was the main reason I decided to choose North, he had something that I didn't see in most other umas. The only ones that had something similar was the new beast, the cherry blossom, white lightning and a couple others.
This was an experiment that I was doing.
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I could hear the faint sound of screaming coming from the trainee room, it was soon followed by the sound of something crashing.
I was outside of the room that North was currently in, his anger was apparent. The race had affected him rather badly.
This was something I had expected, from when I saw him, he was starting to grow the wrong thing. His EGO was turning into arrogance, a detachment from his competitors. This was not the thing I was looking for, it would bring his downfall if anything.
I had created this situation, I made him lose. The style I told him to do was so that he wouldn't win because, under normal circumstances, he would've won. He had the strength and stamina to win, Stern Love was just someone that won due to me choosing so.
My trainee was growing arrogant so I had them lose before they could grow into the diamond that would shine, a calculated growth.
His constant wins back in his backwater home had planted a seed in his mind, this seed had grown when he had entered Central as he saw the other umas and how they trained. He knew he was stronger and this arrogance had grown.
So I had him lose on purpose, to remind him that he can lose, that he isn't special. He was just another uma that had let themselves get lost in their own self glory, forgetting why they were even doing this in the first place.
Hearing the sound of things inside start calming down, I decided that it was time to enter the room.
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[Explanation of EGO, FLOW, and the ZONE]
EGO is the state of one's mind, emotional state, and philosophy. Depending on one's EGO, it could change how they think, do and live.
FLOW is a state of being, it happens when a person gets the right balance of challenge and skill. This state of being enhances a person's skill and processing speed to higher levels. It is important to note that when a person enters FLOW they will start doing things based on their instincts and philosophies.
ZONE is similar to FLOW but instead of causing one to do things based on their philosophies and instincts, they would do things based on their memories and emotions, instinct can play a role in this state of mind but it isn't as prevalent compared to FLOW.
It is to note that when more than one person has entered these states or has been in these states before, they might notice something appearing behind, in front, or combined with the person in this state. From random colors, an animal, or just a shadow person, something that resonates with the person will form that becomes visible to people in these states.
FLOW is different from ZONE by it causing a physical change to a person's eyes.
This was the basic understanding of these states and the main reason I am interested in it. It was like someone reaching their full potential and shining to the world. There was also the fact that I wanted to see the extent these things can bring someone, if it will allow someone from our backwater country to reach the world stage.
Hayate was a project of mine, to see if a person, a uma, is able to reach both of these states. He has potential, I just have to help cut and shape this diamond in the rough. The style that I had created was for this, it worked best with how his mind thought.
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Hayate North was running around at the track again testing his new style, he was quickly getting used to it due to the similarities with the old style. He was running with a horseshoe of considerable weight, leaving marks onto the ground with each step of his. He soon finished his 1600m run before walking over to me.
"How am I doing?" He asked, his voice raspy with each deep breath he took.
"Still rather half baked but better." The tiredness in my voice seemed to be rather noticeable by how North would look at my face, his eyes glancing to the eye bags.
"Don't worry about it, you should be worried about something else." I spoke to him, cutting his thoughts. He looked at me with confusion, his tail stopping to have all his focus on me.
"You have a race coming up, it will be a 1600m race at the kokura course. We have a month to get you ready." I saw his eyes light up with excitement before quickly calming himself down.
"Go rest for today, your training is going to get rougher."
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I honestly didin't know how to continue off the last chapter, sorry for taking awhile , things have been getting the way
I won't be writing for this week coming up, most likely, so yeah
Hope you enjoy this lackluster writing.