7 The Static Room

Oishi was too shocked at this sudden change in personality. The domineering and arrogant aura had been replaced with this playful eleven year old. This was too drastic of a change for him to understand.

Arata sat up and looked at Oishi.

"Sorry about the whole beating you up and stealing your room thing. Not exactly something I enjoy doing, ya know?"

Oishi was completely caught off guard by the casual nature of Arata. Is this the same person? Oishi couldn't help but wonder.

Arata saw the confusion in Oishi's face a laughed.

"Take it easy. This is more comfortable for me. All that before was just an act." The arrogant and domineering aura returned, Arata looked at Oishi with disdain before the aura disappeared again and Arata was smiling happily. "How a noble is supposed to hold himself up. The game of politics and image was something my dad taught me, ya kmow? But you seem like a good person and you have honor. I respect that. And I can tell that you are someone trustworthy enough to be myself in front of. All in all, I like you."

Oishi was again caught off guard but in a different way. Arata turned red as he realized how that must have sounded.

"Wait wait wait! Not like that. I don't like you in that way. I mean you're not bad looking or anything but I'm a guy. And I'm into girls. You're a guy. Not a girl. I just meant you are a good person and stuff."

Seeing Arata rambling like this made him laugh. Oishi pieced together that the light hearted kid in front of him now was the true Arata, the arrogance was a mask he wore for image. He could understand that. But the difference between the two was just too drastic! This kid is funny. He's not bad.

"Calm down, I get it. But you should really watch how you phrase things hahaha."

Oishi continued to laugh at him but the atmosphere had eased a lot and became lighter.

Arata started to laugh as well.

"So, other than hit on me, is there any other reason for making me stay behind?"

Arata rolled his eyes at Oishi's comment.

"There is. I wanted to make a deal with you. If you explain to me the situation of the dorm and this room, I'll let you continue to cultivate in here when you want."

Arata understood his disadvantage by not knowing anyone here. He had no one to rely on and that could be very dangerous in a school like this. His father told him to find friends and allies that are not only strong but also good. And he found Oishi to meet the criteria. He wasn't outstanding, but he had a good foundation and there were a few techniques that Arata could use to help him grow stronger. The more imminent thing for Arata right now was information.

Oishi was impressed by the young kid's proposal. Being able to turn the situation around to where they can become allies was quite a mature and strategic move. He was continuously impressed by Arata. Not bad kid.

"Deal."

Oishi smiled and stretched his hand out. Since he wasn't fully recovered, he stayed seated as Arata walked over and shook his hand.

However, as he shook his hand, Arata gripped it tightly and closed his eyes. Oishi suddenly felt energy flowing through him from Arata. It seemed to ease the pain and also strengthen his muscles slightly. When Arata had finished and walked back to his bed, Oishi was still processing what had just happened.

"A little trick my dad taught me. I just circulated my aura through your meridians; it will help your body recover while also strengthening it a little. Unfortunately I'm not on my father's level so I can only do so much." Oishi then noticed that Arata had gone a little pale, not a lot but just enough to notice.

He actually weakened himself to help me recover?

Oishi's impression of Arata continued to improve. Oishi was able to stand up now, feeling a lot better. He was practically fully healed. He moved over to a lever on the wall.

"There are a few things this room can do; this lever activates one of the functions."

The instant he pulled it down, Arata felt the room's aura change, like it had woken up. He heard a faint buzzing noise before the half of the room that Oishi was standing was suddenly covered with lightning based energy. Oishi was instantly engulfed in it. The lightning started to surge over, around and through him. And although he looked like he was in a bit of pain, considering the amount of electricity that was surging around him, he didn't seem that bothered by it.

"These are the Bolts of Tempering. The room charges a powerful electrical current through this side of the room. Anywhere within the area has the electrical field cover it, so it is best to keep your things on that side of the room. At first, the current just hurts you. But if you learn how it flows and allow it to charge through you, it becomes a great tool to strengthen the body. And if you have an affinity to lightning, like me, it empowers your Elemental Reservoir and grows it."

Oishi got into a basic horse stance, with his feet apart and legs slightly bent. He began chanting as the lightning bolts bounced off of him. He began moving his arms back and forth in front of him. Arata could feel a strong energy pulse emanating off of Oishi.

Oishi then struck his fist to the side and the lightning surged off of him towards the wall before seemingly bouncing back towards Oishi who seemed to catch it, move with the energy and its force and directed it to this other side with a kick.

Again there was a surge of lightning that left him and went into the wall and back. He continued getting hit by this massive surge of lightning before attacking in another direction and sending the energy else where. Every time the lightning left Oishi, the entire side of the room covered in electricity seemed to be magnetically pulled along with it.

Oishi continued to train within the lightning, being attacked by it and then attacking the room back, increasing his pace and moving faster and with more strength. Arata watched closely. Oishi continued explaining as he trained.

"The best way to understand lightning is to be struck by it. To feel its force. Its energy. The speed at which it moves and the power that it holds. By training in this room, you can temper your body to expand and withstand this power and speed. Thus creating the Lightning within your Elemental Reservoir thicker and more refined."

As Oishi released a final attack towards the floor, the lightning seemed to vibrate and then went back to how it was when Oishi first turned it on, a lightning field that covered the side of the room. Oishi stood there amidst the lightning crackling off him and looked over to Arata with a smile.

"Here you can hone your Lightning control and expand your Elemental Reservoir. It's an extremely beneficial room to have."

"What's an Elemental Reservoir?"

Oishi paused for a second before laughing at the question. This kid is really funny.

Then he saw the lost and confused face on Arata's face.

He can't be serious, can he?

"You're kidding right?"

At this, Arata blushed and scratched his head.

"Hehe I was trained a little differently than most, ya know?"

Oishi was stumped at this point. 'Are you saying that I was beaten by a kid who doesn't even understand the basics of Physical Enhancements? The fundamentals of all Magical Art's?'

Oishi then thought of something in their fight.

"But you used the Lightning Element in our battle to defeat me. So you must know about Elemental Reservoirs, right? How else would you use the Element otherwise?"

Arata chuckled sheepishly at the comment. He didn't use any Lightning Element though; he just took and 'borrowed' Oishi's power. He couldn't create it even if he wanted to.

"That is kind of hard to explain, but I didn't create the Lightning. It was actually my first time encountering that Element haha."

Oishi just couldn't believe what he was hearing. How did this kid defeat him?

He started thinking about who his dad was and realized that he must have been trained in some other manner of fighting. Oishi was an intelligent kid and knew that Arata must have been sent here to learn regular Physical Enhancing. If he could teach him that, maybe Arata would teach him in return. The opportunity in front of Oishi suddenly made clear.

He switched off the Bolts of Tempering and walked over to Arata with a smile.

"Well, your Big Brother here can help you with what you don't know. Basically everyone chooses an Elemental Affinity to train in. The Elements being Lightning, Water/Ice, Fire, Earth, Wind, Darkness, Holy and Non-Elemental. There are other Elements, but they are usually either created through a combination of Element's, or a family based Blood Element. And I don't really know much about those. Although possible to train in multiple, it would involve you having to have an extremely large capacity for it to keep the Elements separated. Now the capacity which these Elements are held within is known as the Elemental Reservoir. It holds your power, ready for you to use. Most people have Non-Elemental within them when they are born, and when they choose the Affinity they wish to pursue, the Non-Elemental is changed to whatever Element they want.

"Training and cultivating for any fighter involves their Elemental Reservoir. The larger you can make it, the more you can hold, and the more powerful you are. That is the basic fundamentals."

Arata sat there in thought. He understood what he was saying. And he had a pretty good idea of where his Elemental Reservoir was within him. His father had trained him to understand his meridians and his body on such a high level that his understanding was great. He just never had a name for it. Nor did he know the full usage for it.

He also had a feeling that his Elemental Reservoir had no Element within it. So he came to the conclusion that it must all still be Non-Elemental. He then began to go over the pros and cons of all the Elements in his head, thinking of which would be the best suit for him.

"Don't jump to another Element so quickly."

Arata stood up quickly. He heard that voice before. It was the one that he heard when he left home. He looked around and couldn't see anyone. Oishi looked at Arata strangely.

"Are you OK?"

"Did you hear someone say something?"

Oishi shook his head looking at Arata like he had a screw loose.

"Think about how your Father trained you. He's a smart man."

There it was again. He was certain that only he could hear it. But who was it?

And what did he mean about how his Father trained him.

Just as he was about to question who this voice was, he paused as it hit him. The fact that his father never made him choose an Element must have meant something, his Father was an expert and a genius when it came to fighting and cultivating. He wouldn't have not taught him an Element without any reason. He was suddenly excited realizing what his Father wanted from him. He decided on his next step, what he wanted to learn.

"I know about most of the other Elements, but what is Non-Elemental?"