The Art of Feints

"I had to," I replied, returning Professor's Mistscribe gaze evenly. "There's still much to be done and time waits for no one."

"Indeed." He nodded in agreement. "I presume you have come to train under me?"

"Yes. I apologize for not coming sooner." I answered

Professor Mistscribe's expression remained unchanged. In fact, if anything, it seemed he became even more stoic since my entrance.

"No need to apologize. I saw what happened in Orion's ring. Although I initially wanted to test your determination, you've proven yourself worthy already." He stated with a hint of satisfaction.

Oh? That makes things alot easier. If he wants to start right now, then I'm more than ready.

"Follow me." With that, he led the way deeper into the dojo.

Slowly, darkness crept in on us, leaving only the small amount of illumination provided by cracks in the walls.

Though, much like him I didn't have trouble navigating my way around. I grew up like this after all.

"Do you know why this dojo is devoid of any light?" He asked me.

"No." I replied, genuinely interested in the answer.

There is a reason as to why he is so ridiculously strong for his Rank and if the lack of light has anything to do with it, I want to know.

Maybe he has the same reasoning as my parents and thinks that it will hone one's senses and instincts.

I patiently waited for his answer however, nothing ever came. Instead, we kept walking in silence. Only our soft footsteps echoed throughout the empty hallways.

Then suddenly, I felt a sharp blade heading straight for me, ready to execute its deadly purpose. Death was looming close and I felt its cold embrace enveloping my heart.

Calm and poised, I assessed the situation and scanned the area for incoming danger. However, despite the looming threat, there were no signs of an assailant to be found. The air was perfectly still. Yet, the feeling persisted.

Professor Mistscribe seemed unaware of what was happening as he just walked further ahead without paying me any mind. Is this perhaps his doing? A dramatic show to emphasize the answer to his question?

Just as the attack closed in and I prepared to dodge out of harm's way, the threat suddenly dissipated like it was never there to begin with. However, it felt too vivid to just brush it off. I could even hear the air getting cut apart as though some invisible force sliced it clean.

"Light is a weakness. It blinds those who rely on it. Much like the human body, it shackles their potential. It veils the fabric of reality in an illusionary shroud." Professor Mistscribe spoke solemnly.

"What you have just experienced was a feint. A mere distraction from reality. However, unlike the amateurish feints that trick your eyes, this one was crafted to trick your true senses."

"So the threat I just perceived was not real?" I inquired.

"No, it wasn't. Break your own shackles and you too will be able to feint properly and lead your opponents astray." Professor Mistscribe said.

Feint properly huh? I highly doubt that I can't feint better than him if it was a normal feint but this?

Interesting.

I already knew that he could manipulate other senses than sight to throw his opponents off but to make it feel so vivid. And that through a feint?

In the novel, Kayn broke off contact with him before being able to comprehend his unique style so he instead just strengthened his body to the utmost limit.

But I won't. Not until I have also learned this odd and almost untraceable way of exploiting the senses and anything else that might prove useful.

"Come follow me." He urged me onward.

We continued to walk until we reached the end of the hallway. He led me to a small room, barely big enough to fit the two of us. The room was pitch black, devoid of any light source.

"Learn to differentiate between true and false." Professor Mistscribe said, his voice reverberating throughout the small space.

Silence descended as I suddenly found myself alone in the room, with Professor Mistscribe nowhere to be seen.

My sense of hearing quickly picked up the sound of dripping water which sounded like it originated somewhere nearby.

As the water droplets sporadically hit the floor, they made a strange echoing noise, making the whole experience seem surrealistic.

Suddenly, a metallic noise rang out through the room.

It was exactly like before, announcing death to my ears. This time however, it felt slightly different.

Not wanting to waste precious time, I closed my eyes again and let the world slip away.

Then, I concentrated on every single thing going on within me — my breathing, heartbeat, blood flow, muscle tension, everything.

And then, I felt a slight gust of wind brush past my cheek, followed by the sound of metal slicing through the air.

I instinctively dodged to the side and felt the wind from the blade as it missed me by a hair's breadth.

"Good," came Professor Mistscribe's voice from the darkness. "You learned quickly."

As the room fell silent again and the only thing audible now was the incessant drip of the water, I stayed on high alert, ready to dodge whatever attacks might come flying toward me.

But as time passed, nothing happened. It seemed that Professor Mistscribe was content to let me remain in the dark, waiting for the next attack that never came.

It was a game of patience, in which the moment I let my guard down, I'd surely get hit. So I remained vigilant, staying focused on every little movement and sound that occurred around me.

Time seemed to stretch on endlessly, as I stood there in the dark, waiting for the next move.

Out of nowhere, a sound pierced through the air, and a weak breezy faintly scraped against my skin. Instinctively, I ducked under the blow, feeling the air rush past me as I narrowly avoided being struck.

However, something felt wrong about the attack. Something didn't quite add up.

"I didn't strike," Professor Mistscribe's voice echoed softly. "You fell for it..."

Insight struck me as I compared every tiny aspect of the current attack to the previous ones. I etched the information into my mind as I observed every little detail around me.

Yet another metallic screech rang out across the room, and this time I was ready for it. It did not take long before I could discern an irregularity, indicating that it was a feint.

The pitch of the sound was too high, too sharp. It didn't sound like a real blade slicing through the air, but rather a recording or a mimicry.

"Make it harder next time." I whispered across the room.

"You are quite adept at this Noah. I'm impressed. Let me adjust the difficulty for you." Professor Mistscribe spoke aloud, breaking the silence once more.

Suddenly, a lone waterdrop fell on my head which left me slightly startled. Soon many more followed, splashing onto my face one after another.

My concentration got constantly disrupted by the seemingly random assault.

A part of my mind was always busy filtering out the sounds of dripping water. It was demanding to still perceive other movements.

As another drop fell on me, I perceived a subtle change in its pitch, indicating that something was wrong. My senses screamed at me to move, but I knew better than to just blindly trust them.

Professor Mistscribe would surely bait me into reacting to it by manipulating my senses just to the right degree.

I immediately halted and let the air rush beside me. Nothing else happened, confirming I was right. Adjusting to these mind games is easier than expected.

For the next few hours, the pattern repeated itself over and over. Every time, Professor Mistscribe played the same trick with something slightly different to keep me on edge.

He went from one attack to two attacks at the same time.

Following that came 3 attacks in rapid succession and if that wasn't enough, each strike slowly began to lose almost every trace of sound and became nearly undetectable.

Even the air stopped vibrating with his attacks.

As time passed, I slowly got used to not only this training but also Professor Mistscribe himself. Although at first, it seemed random if he would attack or simply feint, there was an order to this chaos.

Professor Mistscribe's actions were in an erratic manner, seeming almost unpredictable.

But observe his actions close enough and you begin to pick up on certain telltales that give away what will happen next. Every human I've ever met is like this. Predictable.

However, even then it was extremely arduous to keep up. At some point, I was practically fighting an invisible enemy that constantly unleashed a barrage of attacks and feints, giving me no time in between

It did not take long for dusk to break overhead as I was still standing there, holding back my breath in anticipation of the next attack.

My chest was burning from exertion but I didn't let it hinder me and fully used the 2 days before I had to leave for the lectures to give it my all here.