34 Strengthening. (7)

"Excuse me, Chief Nura, I have a question."

"Hmm? What's up?" The Adonian asked as tried his hardest to refrain from picking his nose.

"What is the point of all this? Is the Enforcer really going to make the strides you believe he will?"

"Absolutely." Nura replied without a lick of hesitation.

"How can you be so sure? I've seen him in action, and while he may be impressive, he is still only Human."

"Hmph." Nura chuckled before smiling. "Yes, he certainly is 'only' Human, but his potential is crazy. This man is equal parts instinctual and intelligent, and if we can tap into and develop the one half, I just know he'll be able to raise the other half to the appropriate level. Besides, even though we are focusing on developing his physical abilities to try and close the gap a little, there still is another side to Lawman that is woefully underdeveloped."

"He has another side?"

"Of course he does, and you've actually seen it used. For all his smarts, this idiot has yet to realise that he is an Essence Bender."

"A Bender?" Rhee asked, looking a little perplexed. "He wasn't a Lightning Essence Practitioner?"

"So you also misunderstood, huh? Well, Juxtae seemed to misunderstand as well, but I guess that is understandable, since he did buff that baton's lightning while taking on the Professor and Vox. Lawman over here used The Voice instinctively, he buffed his speed and strength instinctively, all by using raw Essence to do so. I have no idea how he was allowed to live so long without being instructed on how to purify and utilize his Essence, but if he is trained, and manages to survive for long enough, he's going to be a real monster."

"R-Really?" Rhee asked as he looked at the unconscious Relovan who still had blood leaking from his concave and healing face.

"I'm really happy that your bosses decided to have an argument here on our shitty little planet, Rhee. If they hadn't both come here and fought, I wouldn't have discovered this one."

Nura then stood up and looked at Relovan, his smile from before having turned into a grin.

"He's a monster, this one. Despite what you think, I can tell that he's making progress, and is getting close to making some sort of breakthrough. Anyway, I have things to do, so I shall see the both of you tomorrow."

Nura nodded at Rhee, and exited the training room quickly. Rhee watched over Relovan and ensured he was completely healed, before leaving the room and heading to his own lodgings within the compound. Relovan on the other hand was bunking inside the Training Room, and even had a small mattress set up in the corner. Despite numerous attempts to try and coax him into sleeping in a different room, the Enforcer remained in there and only left to shower and use the bathroom. The next morning, Rhee entered the room to find Relovan up and about. The Human was already stretching and loosening up. Stubble adorned his face, and he didn't look all that great, but didn't seem to care much about his physical appearance.

"Rhee." He greeted simply without looking at his personal medic.

"Enforcer."

"What time is the Chief coming to see us?"

"I don't quite think you can say that he's coming to see US, but you yourself know that all depends on what he has for breakfast."

"That giant." Relovan scoffed. "If he wasn't so strong and my superior, I'd…"

"...you would?"

"Probably still get my ass kicked." Relovan conceded.

"You aren't lying, Lawman." Nura said as he entered the room. "You seem to be in good spirits… has your progress been that good?"

"Progress? What progress, Chief? Rhee is almost out of Crystals again, and my face stings every time I see your fists."

Despite saying this, Relovan smirked as he assumed his fighting stance.

"Going to forgo breakfast again, Lawman?"

"I'll eat after I win, Chief."

"I guess you're going to starve to death." Nura said with a grin.

Despite the banter which suggested things would be different, Relovan was once again flattened instantly. This in fact continued for close to another week, however there was a slight difference that only Nura picked up on. On the night of the end of second week, after Relovan was squashed yet again, Nura's grin changed and grew significantly. He left another message for Relovan with Rhee before disappearing for the night, and unlike the previous times where the Enforcer would sleep through the night, he actually woke up as his treatment was coming to an end.

"What's this? You've come to?" Rhee said as he looked at Relovan. "I have a message for you. Let Lawman know that unlike him, I'm not on leave and have annoying duties that I have been putting off for long enough. I will only come to see him in a few weeks, so until then, he has full access to the training facilities in the room next door. He can train himself to his heart's content as the equipment is actually superior to the stuff he has in his tiny apartment. Until we see each other again!"

Relovan just stared at Rhee, before glaring and baring his teeth.

"…he just had to go and call my place small, didn't he? He's the one who is absurdly large!" Relovan barked as he sat up, before grinning himself. "Anyway, that's not important… I finally saw him, Rhee."

"Saw him? What do mean?"

"I mean that I was finally able to follow him with my eyes – I was able to keep up."

"….and that means?"

"It means that I can finally fucking train, my blue friend."

The look in Relovan's eyes changed as he said this. He got to his feet with his fists clenched and a grin on his face – which lasted all of two seconds as he felt woozy and ended up collapsing. The following morning, Rhee entered the Training Room to find that Relovan was already in the next room, inspecting the training equipment. It really was superior to the stuff he had, and Relovan looked somewhat excited as he carefully looked at what would be best suited for the training menu he was concocting in his head.

"Enforcer." Rhee said as he entered.

"Oh, Rhee. You might not be needed for a while, so why don't you go back and spend some time on your Walker?"

"As much as I would like to, I have been assigned to stay here for the duration of your stay. In fact, even if I wasn't, the fact that I can't teleport like the Void Lord and those stupid twins means I'm stuck here."

"…stupid twins? Those… Dee women?"

"DeeDee? Yeah, them."

"How do you all even address them?"

"If you know which of the sisters you're trying to address, she will just… know that you're speaking to her and respond. It's all very weird."

"I'll bet." Relovan said with a shrug and a nod. "Anyway, I'm planning on getting started with my training after breakfast."

"You're actually going to eat properly?!" Rhee boomed.

"Is it that surprising?"

"Yes, well it was difficult enough to get you to eat these past two weeks, so…"

"I just wanted to use the time with that damn Chief as effectively as I possibly could. Factoring the duration I was unconscious and healing, eating wasn't all that high on the list of priorities."

"Just what was a priority then?"

"Seeing enough of the Chief's movements and speed to build up an adequate mental image. Now I can actually get used to his speed and without the threat of death."

"I'm not sure I follow, Enforcer."

"You don't have to, Rhee."

Relovan said this while tinkering on a computer that was in the room. A few members of Nura's staff brought a number of small meals into the room, and Relovan ate them while acquainting himself with some things on the computer. Once both the food and the crash courses were finished, Relovan took some time to let his body process the food before moving to a less cluttered space within the room. He closed his eyes and assumed his fighting stance and took a few deep breaths as he focused completely. Rhee watched on in silence, wondering just what was going on when something started wafting off of Relovan's body. Some kind of purple smoke or vapour floated gently through the air, before converging to a point just in front of Relovan. The Enforcer produced more and more of the substance, and it took some time for Rhee to recognise what it was, but when he did, he was kind of taken aback.

"Essence!"