9 Explanation and The Prelude to a Ceremony

"Again."

*Snap*

"You can do better than that, Artoria. Again."

*Snap!*

"Ah, well I guess this is all a King can amount to~ I pray for the Country if this is their King--"

*SNAP!*

"Shut up, Gabriel!" Artoria roared before turning away from the training dummy and looking to me with a glare among glares, "Why am I even doing this stupid training?! I'm a Knight not a common brawler!"

Hearing what she said, I scoffed before turning away from my current activity, "If being a brawler was so bad, wouldn't you have won that first fight between us?"

"That's not even a fair comparison and you know it, Gabriel! Your physique and skills make you far from common in regards for barehanded fighting!" she said with a huff before looking down at her reddening knuckles.

Standing up, I stretched my arm out before addressing Artoria.

"What would happen to you in a fight if you ran out of Mana?" I simply asked, walking over to the short blonde girl.

"You know that won't happen, my Mana reserves are--" she tried to refute and dodge the question but I pressed on.

"I didn't ask about your Mana reserves, Artoria. I asked what would happen if you ran out of Mana in a fight?" I leveled a steady look at Artoria and she averted her eyes before kicking the ground and actually acting a little like her age.

Mumbling she gave a reply, "...I'd lose, I guess," she said with no small amount of annoyance.

Smiling I pointed to the dummy she'd been hitting for the last hour, "See this dummy?" I asked before walking passed Artoria before standing in front of the dummy, "This dummy couldn't withstand even a single punch of yours if you used Mana Burst," Artoria went to whine again but I cut her off, "But after countless normal punches, you've only succeeded in hurting yourself. Can you tell me the problem with that?"

I looked over my shoulder at Artoria who just looked at me with an unsure face, obviously not having an answer for me.

Sighing, I replied, "You rely far too much on one side of your power. All you think about is Mana. You're neglecting your body." I turned around and lifted my hand before curling it into a fist. It had been months since that first fight with Artoria and we'd had countless more between us since then. That state I entered during our first fight, a state where I brought my entire body into unity. I slowly stepped into it with much more ease after having practiced with it for months, "During our first fight, Artoria...I realized something. Through unity comes strength."

My arm bulged slightly and my arm muscles were easy to see. If one had keen enough eyes, they'd be able to see the muscles vibrating with one another in sync and if one had a keen understanding of the body or supernatural senses, they'd be able to sense that the muscles were slowly building up a monstrous amount of power through this action.

Turning around casually, I backhanded my fist, slowly, against the dummy.

Though belying it's speed, when my knuckles hit the hardened wood of the dummy, a massive boom went off as a hole blasted itself through the dummy's chest. The hole wasn't perfectly circular but it was more rounded than what most would think possibly from such a casual display of strength.

But I still needed to train it more. A few months wasn't enough to fully delve into the applications of such a power.

"You see, I used to be like you until that fight, Artoria. I tried to copy your Mana Burst but instead I had a bout of inspiration and came up with something new entirely," I spoke with an easy smile when I saw Artoria's surprised face - I hadn't used that sort of power during our latest sparring sessions, after all - before I continued, "I used to focus on brute strength and rely on my instincts to cover for technique. I still do this but I apply my brute force with my instincts AND control now. You see, your Mana may be strong and it may reinforce your body to a superhuman level...but wouldn't it enhance you further if you already had a superhuman body? Wouldn't you be stronger? The answer is yes, you would be stronger. Because through unity, you gain strength and through strength, you can gain unity. It's as simple as that," I shrugged before walking passed Artoria and back to where I was sitting before.

Once sitting, Artoria spoke up, "But...but I don't have your physique or your control, Gabriel...I don't think this training will bear any fruit, sadly," she said with quite the downtrodden look which caused me to laugh. Hearing my laughter, her head shot up from looking at the ground and glared at me with confusion in her eyes, "Why are you laughing?!"

I didn't answer her instantly and when she looked like she was about to run off in a tantrum, I spoke up, "Okay, okay, calm down, Your Majesty," I sarcastically drawled at her, "I just find it funny that you don't understand what I meant by what I said."

Hearing what I said, she stopped her huffing and just tilted her head to the side, an even more confused look on her face.

Rolling my eyes, I elaborated on what I meant, "I'm not saying you have to become exactly like me, Artoria. I'm just saying you have to bring balance and unity to your power. You don't have my physique but you have something I don't have - Mana. That is your main way of power just like brute force is my power. What you need to do is supplement it with physical prowess and control. Not control of the body like me but control over your energy. Your goal is to control your Mana like I control my body," I explained before scoffing, "And a certain level of body control is easy enough to teach, Artoria, which is why I'm training you like this first. Haven't you noticed that your knuckles barely bleed after punching the dummy anymore? Remember your first few days of training under me? Your knuckles would be torn and bleeding and you'd look so worried about it," I teased her, her face going a bit red but nevertheless still concentrating on my words, "Sure, your skin has toughened up a little but the main reason you're not bleeding anymore is because you're slowly learning how to apply your body's strength without hurting yourself. It's not rocket science, Artoria."

Skipping over literally everything I just said, Artoria's confused little face spoke up with a finger on her chin, "What's 'rocket science' Gabriel?"

"...Nothing. It's just a figure of speech. It means it isn't overly complicated; that it's simple," I gave a brief explanation before pinching the bridge of my nose and asking, "Do you get what I mean now, Artoria? That you need to bring yourself into balance and that physical training is needed for that?"

Artoria, the 'King' of Camelot and the Rightful Heir to England's Throne...pouted before giving a very teenager-like reply, "Yes, I understand, jeez..."

...She's picking up too many bad habits from me. Or Merlin. Maybe both of us are to blame.

"If you understand, go and get a new dummy and continue practicing. We only have an hour until that stupid bloody ceremony begins," I grumbled before Artoria put on a cheeky smile before running away to get another dummy. I, on the other hand, just continued grumbling before turning back to what I was doing before I had to explain everything to Artoria.

Drawing. When I had the revelation about balance and unity, I knew that I needed a pastime hobby that wasn't fighting or killing stuff. I know, I was annoyed at first as well.

But drawing...is kinda fun. In a relaxing way, at least. Not too many blood-pumping drawing sessions, honestly but it does help me clear my mind when something particularly troubling pops up in my training.

I started the hobby a few days after coming back to Camelot with Artoria and Merlin.

Why? Well I just...saw some paper and a pretty primitive pencil and thoughts 'What the heck could go wrong?' and started to draw. Been doing it on and off ever since.

I usually thought through things while drawing because the hobby helped clear up my mind.

And with my hand-eye coordination and overall body control? I can draw quite well. Very detailed and with little to no mistakes.

Anyway, back to thinking about training.

Status.

[Name: Gabriel]

[Age: 15]

[Race: ??? (Bloodline Alignment: 23%)]

[Power: 12.9 ---> 15.7]

[Physique: 14.8 ---> 17.2]

[Control: 12.8 ---> 15.7]

Over the past few months, my bloodline alignment has rocketed forward under my new training - training where I bring everything in my body together to increase my power. I call the state 'Unification' because, well, everything inside of me unites and my power explodes forward no matter my action or movement.

Though it's slowed right back down again, I can tell that there's a realm beyond 'Unification'. A realm where instead of bringing out my full-strength and overcoming the natural limits placed on my body by bringing my body together, I'll instead be able to exceed my full-strength and surpass my limits entirely. A realm where every action I take could result in the power to crush skyscrapers.

...Yet I know my body wouldn't be able to take that. I neither have the control, physique or power to bring about the use of that realm.

From my estimations I'll need 30 in all my stats to reach such a realm. Even that's the minimum.

If I wanted to use it comfortably...I'd need more than 30, for sure.

Well, for now, let's focus on what I have. Unification works on the principle that every bit of your body can add to your overall strength. Your blood gain give you more energy and momentum if used correctly. Your bones can be like jackhammers if used correctly. Your muscles, like a tsunami, can link together and multiply your force, if used correctly.

With my Superhuman control, I use my body correctly AND I use it all at once. And when they're used together, they compliment one another.

It's a bit hard to explain but think of it like this:

When in my Unification state, every punch I throw contains all my strength. Not just my arm strength. Not just my shoulder strength. But my entire body's strength. It seems a bit unrealistic and mystical but really, it's just the fruit of my unique muscle composition and overall physique.

I have a slight suspicion that the next state has something to do with the Demon Back from my Hanma bloodline. I don't have the Demon Back just yet...but I can feel the foundation for it being built every time my bloodline alignment advances.

Once I have the Demon Back and my stats get to 30, at the minimum...I know that I'll explode forth with even more power than I currently have.

By now, Artoria had came back to her private courtyard with a dummy slung over her shoulder.

Though she didn't return on her own. Someone who looked like a grown-up Artoria was working beside her. Yet unlike Artoria who always wore tunics and pants, this woman wore a simple white dress that looked quite fancy and was made of superb materials.

She had long blonde hair that reached her hips, yet was styled and braided in certain areas to avoid it getting in the way. Her green eyes were a little sharper than Artoria's softer eyes yet they had a fierce beauty to them that was, to me at least, quite attractive. Pale-ish skin that was also unlike Artoria's healthy skin, yet didn't seem to look bad on the woman who was both gentle and graceful yet walked with the confidence of a warrior maiden.

"Morgan," I smiled as I stood up, only to look down to the basket she was holding, "Thanks for bringing some food. I was getting quite hungry," I said, walking toward the quickly blushing maiden.

...You'd struggle to belief that this was Morgan Le Fay, the villain of Artoria's story. Especially with such a meek and gentle smile on her face.

"Bringing such trivial food doesn't deserve your thanks, Sir Gabriel," Morgan averted her gaze but I saw from her body language, the joy that she felt when I thanked her. While Artoria rolled her eyes and walked over to the training area, Morgan walked over to me and put the basket of food on the table I was just using, "Would you mind if I sat and ate with you, Sir Gabriel?" she asked with a forthright look in her eye, her desire not hidden one bit.

If there's one way I'd describe Morgan...it'd be that she's like a 21st century girl in regards to how blunt she is when it comes to who she likes and desires.

Since the first day I met her, a week or two after I first came to Camelot, she'd been very aggressive in her...courting, yeah, let's call it that. She's been very aggressive in her courting of me and my attention, usually coming to visit while I trained Artoria or when I lazed about in my own training courtyard.

Though I'm not against it. She's a real beauty. Like, I'm talking Artoria (Lancer) levels of beauty.

And while I get to talk to a beauty like her, I get to eat a load of food - why would I ever complain? Now if only she was a fighter, I'd have fallen in love.

...She is a mage, however, so there's hope for her yet.

"I'm not a 'Sir' just yet, Morgan. Don't go breaking etiquette otherwise Artoria over there will come over and lecture the two of us," I joked before pulling out Morgan's seat for her and pushing it back in and sitting down myself.

Morgan covered her mouth, laughing with her eyes formed into crescents, "Oh no, however would we survive if the 'King' of Camelot were to lecture us?" she played along with the joke and I laughed with her.

It all boiled down until Artoria shouted at us from the other side of the courtyard, "I can hear you two, you know? Go court each other else where! I-Idiots!" she seemed particularly embarrassed today, which only made us laugh even more. But seeing no point in disrupting her training anymore, I pushed on with the conversation with Morgan.

"Say, did you enjoy the picture of drew of you last time?" I asked, opening the basket and pulling out a leg of honey roasted ham.

Morgan's face went distressed for a second, though I could tell it was faked, before she answered, "I have to apologize, Gabriel...I seem to have lost the drawing," she gave me an apologetic smile while I just calmly looked at her while eating, "Would you mind drawing me again?"

Seeing that it was the same old, I swallowed a piece of ham before giving a smile, "That's the 3rd one this week and the 11th time this month...say, do you not care for my drawings to lose them so frequently?" I turned it back on her and she actually got flustered.

Morgan Le Fay, a witch of renown and a brilliant mage, second only to Merlin...was getting flustered by my words.

...This'll be a story to tell some people in the future~