20 Crea's training regime - talent

Talent.

On mana-filled Erluna this word had extra meaning. It could be used when referring to a unique ability that was very rarely gained after breaking through one of the internal mana core bottlenecks. Crea's telepathic network belonged to this category. She also mentioned that is wasn't her only talent.

In theory, expanding mana core capacity by triggering overflows had no limits. In practice, most elves hit a wall after doubling their original amount of life energy. Such a hard to break through point was called a core's bottleneck, and any further progress was blocked until some requirement was fulfilled.

The difficulty lied in the fact that this requirement was not only different for everyone but to obtain any hints as to its nature one had to allow someone to dive inside own soul. Which was a process that could very easily end in a catastrophe for both involved parties. I was told that the most common choice was to ignore the soul diving part and simply count on luck and coincidence, though this approach usually took years or didn't work at all.

Besides, after breaking through the first bottleneck, there was no guarantee that another wouldn't appear right after a single overflow or two. On top of that, the requirement to break through each subsequent barrier was almost always more challenging than the last one. For example, Crea already knew what she had to do in order to further improve her internal mana core, and joked that it was no different from conquering the world.

After several experiments that even involved asking someone to watch the door and the shutters from the other side, and a lot of Eri's punches, the goddess made a theory that my ability to summon those rusty metal doors could be included into the talent's category. Apparently being upgraded from a being who had no internal core to a silver elf was no different from breaking through my very first bottleneck, which resulted in gaining this unique ability. The other possibility was that I had fulfilled the requirement for it somewhere in the river of souls.

No matter where this talent came from, for certain it had increased my value in Crea's eyes. She even called me good luck incarnate. But there was a hefty price attached to all this.

If her theory was right, then it meant that my core's starting capacity was nonexistent. In other words - zero.

Though right now my internal core was busily gathering origin mana and converting it into life energy, Crea was certain that it was going to stop after reaching the exact amount required to fuel my talent. To make it worse, I wouldn't be able to use that life energy for anything else, even temporarily.

The status inscribed on the red doors was already close to 5%, and the goddess decided that in order not to disturb the talent's development process I wasn't allowed to refill my core with external life energy. My only remaining hope was that after it was done, I would be able to trigger a lot of overflows to raise my minuscule capacity and make up for this lack of power a little. It wasn't as if I looked down on my talent, but when I asked if it would ever be possible for me to become a mage, Crea looked at me with pity and sent 'no', while Eri added 'weren't you already a wizard in your old life?'. I had no idea if she did that deliberately or didn't understand the meaning behind it, but for sure she had scored a critical hit.

Eri's situation was contrary to mine. After a detailed examination, it turned out that her starting capacity was top tier when compared to other silver elves. One day of converting origin mana gave her about 0,004% of the full amount. Crea teased her that it had almost reached a level of a weak golden elf. Since there was no time to wait decades for it to fill up naturally, my sister was told to reach her full capacity by using life stones.

Overflows only happened when someone tried to absorb captured life energy even though his mana core was already full - which I was told wasn't that simple. In any other case, boosting yourself with a life stone was no different from pouring fuel into an empty tank. However, young elves normally didn't do that due to an inevitable side-effect.

Just as I thought, at a certain point the elven body's aging process slowed down considerably, but it wasn't exactly connected with age. It was the effect of being filled to the brims with life energy for the first time in one's life. In other words, if Eri artificially sped up this process, then her appearance would remain close to that of a thirteen years old girl for the rest of her life. Despite the big 'YES' I yelled after hearing this, I quickly cooled down and decided to have a serious talk about this later in private.

Dreams were one thing, the reality was another. I had to ascertain if she was ready for the consequences of making her reality no different from my dream.

'Let's end this here.' Sent Crea while stretching, she was in a good mood since the time I showed her those rusty doors.

'You've mentioned something about combat training?' Asked Eri, and Crea confirmed it with a nod.

On the outside, her thorny stance against the goddess didn't change much. Nevertheless, after that situation with the brooch in the shape of fairy's wings, both sides seemed to reach some kind of a cease-fire and reduced the number of times they tried to pick a fight with each other. But after my sister stood up, I noticed that the legs of her chair bore many visible traces left by her twin tails. She was getting better at controlling her body language but had yet to achieve similar results with her scaly tails.

'I should be able to at least learn how to fight in a traditional way, right?' I sent.

'I don't really need a half-assed warrior, you've got other uses. But learning some self-defense won't hurt.' Replied Crea and led the way.

'Brother, it takes long years to learn how to fight properly, but we've got a lot of time, and I look forward to teaching you everything I know.' Added Eri.

After making sure that the goddess already left the room, my sister took a look at my swollen face and sent me a small apologetic smile. But when I tried to tousle her silky hair, she avoided my hand and went back to her evil princess persona.

I bet that this irresistibly adorable evil gleam in her slightly slanted eyes could easily intimidate someone who didn't know her true self.

*****

Just like it intimidated those elves we met in the place Crea brought us to. They were terrified and pleasantly obedient. Though it probably had more to do with us raiding on the goddess's authority coattails. But who cared, my sister wasn't the only one with a lot of pent-up stress accumulated during the recent events. Moreover, that ponytailed girl deserved a little fright for calling me a slave girl, and that girly ponytailed guy next to her was an easy target to make fun of...

… at least that was my opinion from five minutes ago. I would like to slap my old self for allowing the situation to develop in this direction.

The duel I had imagined involved wooden weapons and would end after one side gave up. However, this one was about to be fought with real weapons, and Crea just explained to me that using the Grand Kingdom dueling rules meant that my bloodthirsty sister wouldn't stop simply because her opponent had enough. And if I were to intervene in any way, then it would be no different from spitting in Eri's face since the whole thing started with her defending my honor.

My common sense was still too naive, and now I was torn. If Eri won then that cute girl's suffering was set in stone, but if their roles were reversed, then my sister's confidence would be ground into dust. By all means I should be on Eri's side. But despite realizing this, I was unable to commit to it fully and wished this entire situation never happened in the first place.

The training hall we were in was illuminated by torches attached to walls in regular intervals. Their orange light had a strange yellow hue, and they produced next to no smoke. Nearly all of the training dummies were gathered on something that looked like an archery track. Beneath one wall was a long rack with various weapons, all freshly oiled and ready to use. The rear part of the room contained a sand-filled round area with a diameter of about five meters, a good spot for mock fights or a duel.

I stood with Crea close to the ring's left edge - right behind Eri who was already prepared for the incoming fight.

Eri had removed her white cloak, but there was no sign of her tails. She kept them wrapped beneath the green shirt. In one hand she held a rapier with a sizeable protective hilt, a weapon she had chosen after glancing at the multitude of knives attached to her opponent's leather armor. In the other she had a thin dagger about one-third of the rapier's length. Most of the available armor parts didn't fit her size, so she had only exchanged her skirt for a pair of brown linen pants. Lastly, she had also decided to put on a single chain gauntlet on the hand with the dagger and greaves made out of hardened leather.

Two steps from us were standing at attention the dark brown skinned elf and the silver one who was a bit taller than me. Both did their best not to draw any attention their way. The cute looking guy had obtained permission to move to the opposite side of the ring. Over there was also the green haired girl. Her sad emerald eyes and the expression as if the world was about to end were seriously starting to affect my guilt consciousness.

'Erica Yelvesfor, Viore kingdom military swordsmanship.' Stated my sister in a freezing tone.

Her opponent was still visibly scared, but after receiving that statement there were traces of anger slowly appearing on her face. '... no need to mock me. Just do what you want already.'

My sister loudly clicked her tongue and pointed her rapier at the girl. 'Tell me. Who mocks who? I want a proper duel. However, if it's a punishment you seek then drop your weapons and I will gladly deliver it.'

'You heard her Rinne, that confident girl wants a proper duel. Disarm her, and I will lessen your punishment for insulting Victor. Let's see, since next week's rations are going to be extra tasty, you will only lose your share and receive fifty lashes…' Crea made a long pause during which the girly guy draw blood from his lip and the cute girl staggered pitifully. '... from Nerion's hand. No need to do it publicly.'

The looks of disbelief that appeared on the ponytailed duo faces were a sight to behold.

'And you foolish girl who stated the usage of a military style from a kingdom that was destroyed two hundred years ago, try to remember that you're not even a century old, your style is at most a second-grade imitation of the original. Anyway, If Rinne won't be able to disarm you, then you've got my permission to treat this duel as her punishment. Her life will be in your hands.' Announced the goddess.

"Oh? Good to know that she wants to keep our origin a secret." I made a loud remark in a language that was understood only by one petite girl. My talent gave me some leeway with the goddess, and I wasn't someone who would think twice before using it to our advantage. Even if it was just a little childish payback for constantly picking on my sister.

Anyway, the others were too shocked by the content of Crea's message to pay me any attention.

As soon as my sister's opponent shook off the initial disbelief, she took a proper stance and for the first time responded to Eri's hostile glare with one of her own.

'... Rinne T'aire, self-taught throwing knife user.'

Both duelists looked at Crea, waiting for her to give a signal to start. In response the goddess raised one hand and sent:

'I hereby declare that the duel between Rinne T'aire and Erica Yelvesfor will be conducted accordingly to the Grand Kingdom dueling rules. Let it be known that even a brief usage of life energy will result in the death of the offender by my hand. The duel will end only when both duelists agree to it or if one of them dies. You may begin.' She swung her hand down and cut off both girls from her telepathic network.

'Thank you for sparing Rinne, my lady.' This message was sent in a quiet inner voice filled with gratitude.

'Keep your thanks for now, Nerion. The duel barely started.'

'You're right my lady, but Rinne won't lose to a child.'

His words were akin to a push I needed to commit fully to my sister's side. Rinne already had someone who believed in her, but Eri had only me. I would be a failure of an older brother if I didn't stop wavering during a situation like this.

'That child will kick your sweetheart's ass, girly boy. Just watch.' I sent and showed him the middle finger.

He only raised his brow in puzzlement and decided to ignore me.

No matter which one of our respective important girls was going to win, one thing was certain, Nerion and I weren't going to be friends.