Training

The next morning I went straight to the training grounds. Josento was already waiting for me to arrive. I said, "Morning. I want you to throw lightning at me. I'm gonna try to dodge them.".

He said, "I can't promise you won't get hit.".

I understood the risks so I stood thirty feet from him. Giving him a quick nod he prepared a lightning bolt. I lowered my stance waiting for him to throw the attack. Carefully watching his movements I noticed his shoulder start to move. I waited until he flicked his hand to fully release the attack. Moving quickly to the side I had hoped that it would miss me but as soon as I moved it hit me and I could feel the electricity coursing through my body. I was on the ground shaking violently until Josento came over and placed a hand on me. After a couple seconds I stopped shaking. It felt like the electricity was absorbed by something.

I looked at him and said, "Thanks, that hurt like hell.".

He said, "I can tell.".

After that experience I left the academy grounds and headed for the castle. Reaching the castle I was met by some knights at the gate. The taller one said, "State your business.".

I said, "I'm here to see my father Izune.".

They exchanged quick glances and the shorter one said, "Wait here while I go inform the captain.".

She entered the gate and quickly made her way into the castle. I waited for around thirty minutes before she returned followed by Izune. He walked up to me and we exchanged greetings. I asked, "What's the best way to train my ability at this point? I tried to dodge lightning but it didn't end so well.".

Izune answered, "You need to free your mind when running. Believe you can go anywhere with your feet alone.".

After giving advice he went back into the castle. At least it was some decent advice. I took my time returning to the academy. Thinking about his advice I kind of understood what he meant. Before evolving his ability my father had extreme anger issues but now he is usually calm. Returning to the training ground I tried to empty my mind. I emptied everything except the urge to protect Mina and the memory of my father ripping my mother apart. All I felt was rage. I gave into it and started running. Moving at full speed I was passing through walls and could feel myself speeding up. I was getting faster. Continuing on my path I started pushing my legs to move faster. Reaching the entrance of the city I noticed nothing was moving.

Getting a closer look. Everything was frozen in time. About two seconds passed before time resumed. I looked at my hands thinking it was a dream but It was real. I quickly returned to the barracks and told the squad to meet in the lounge. I also told Saikeya to meet with us. After everyone gathered I said, "I got some advice from my father about my ability. Using that I started running. Nearing the entrance of the city I outran time for two seconds. Everything was frozen in place.".

They all looked surprised that I evolved my ability in a short amount of time. I can't tell them that I used my rage to propel me forward. Saikeya said, "This makes the operation take major steps forward. Before we can kill the king we will need to take out the Jade Knights. And Izune will need to be away from the kingdom for it to succeed.".

Everyone agreed. I'm still no match for my father. He has more experience in battle than I do. Hearing the next part of the operation was a little surprising I thought we would take out more nobles before going for the Jade Knights. If we could initiate some kind of conflict between another kingdom we might be able to succeed. After thinking about the plan I grabbed Mina's hand and headed towards my room. I said, "All I need is for you to be safe. If any of the next battles get too dangerous I'm gonna relocate you to somewhere safe.".

She said, "Not gonna happen. I go wherever you go my love.".

Hearing that I felt like the luckiest man in the world. I told her, "If my father ever finds out about us he will use you as leverage against me. Honestly he might already know. He knows a lot that most people would never guess.".

She assured me that she would be safe. I gave her a quick hug and said, "I'll be back.".

Leaving the room I went to speak to Josento. He was still in the lounge talking to Saikeya. I entered and asked, "How do we get father out of the city? We would need a pretty big problem to occur.".

Saikeya answered, "We are going to relocate all the city bandits on the most popular trade routes, promising them infinite wealth to steal the cargo but let the civilians go free.".

Stopping trade will affect not only Foract but the surrounding kingdoms as well. Interfering with trade will upset the other kings but where the problem is in Foract the knights from the other kingdoms cannot interfere. Which will make our king responsible for the missing product. A satisfying plan but we won't know if it will keep father busy for long enough for us to kill the king.

The plan is satisfying enough. I just need to keep training before we can fully enact the plan.