Failure

"What are you thinking about Xelfia?"

"Nothing much Tearia."

"That doesn't really seem like the face of someone not thinking about much."

Tearia and Xelfia had been on the side watching Xilo fight against Aeon for a couple of hours now. Xilo had been beating and tossed around like a ragdoll the entire time. Tearia didn't even feel like it was training anymore yet Xilo kept trying to get back up regardless. "Xelfia won't talk to me either." She had tried a couple times to get Xelfia to talk during this time and only got silence in return. "I guess I'll leave her alone." Giving up, Tearia left Xelfia alone as she watched Xilo fly across the courtyard and break some of the flowers that were set out. Crushing the plants underneath him Xilo felt some dirt enter his mouth as he got back up.

"I'm getting tossed around so easily."

This wasn't just some basic strength difference either. Aeon was very clearly holding himself back and yet he still couldn't get close to him for a moment. "This is real skill." Ignoring all the pain in his body Xilo moved himself forward with Icebreaker dragging behind. He had lost the ability to complete its blade hours ago and could only use the broken part of it. "Use my energy more efficiently." That was the biggest complaint Aeon had for XIlo. At first he figured it would be easy to control his energy use but after actually trying it, he realized how wrong that was. Energy would scatter to other areas in his body, he would overload how much he needed or even underuse. He couldn't find that perfect balance.

"It seems I formed quite a few bad habits over the years."

Charging up his energy he went in for another attack as his broken blade went past Aeon's chest just missing. "To little." Failure was creeping into his heart along with doubt each time he didn't succeed. He kept trying regardless as another attack came out aiming for Aeon's legs. This time it had too much power forcing it to be blocked by Aeon. From what Xilo could tell Aeon would block whenever he used too much or dodge when he used too little. Out of the hundreds of attacks that he had got in today he never figured out what would happen if he got it right. "If I fail twice..." If Xilo failed two times in a row he would be attacked by Aeon as a form of punishment. Bracing himself he barely finished blinking before Aeon was in front of him.

Feeling his blade get grabbed, Xilo tried to shake him off with brute force once more. Not even making his hand slip a little bit Aeon picked him up by his sword and held him overhead. Letting him dangle in the air for a few moments, XIlo felt his body get thrown to the ground again. He had lost count of just how many times this had happened today. Eating more dirt Xilo had sweat drenching his entire body as he stood back up completely drained. He was using way more energy than was used to and his steps had already begun to falter. "I can still keep going." Almost tripping as he stood back up, Xilo got ready for his next two attacks as Aeon Watched him in silence.

"He's one stubborn kid. Most would've asked for a break already. Can the body keep up with the mind though?"

Over the course of their fighting Aeon had his attacks do less and less damage to make sure he didn't hurt Xilo too badly in the process. "If I keep being soft though nothing will be learned." About five hours had passed by now so it was probably a good time for them to take a break anyway. "I have more to teach him than just how to fight." Fighting was important but it wasn't everything, Xilo needed to learn how to talk to people properly and how to guide others. Communication was vastly important as well, if everybody hated him or he couldn't talk then he was in for trouble. "He's alright at coming up with plans from what I've seen." Making a long list of mental notes Aeon also had plans for the others as well.

"Felli, Xelfia and Tearia...actually nevermind, Tearia is fine. Her Grandfather has taught her quite well, the other two definitely need some work though. Katrin seemed to let Felli fend for herself when it came to fighting and Xelfia is in the same boat as Xilo for the most part. If I want to make sure everyone is learning at an even pace I'll need to time everything out properly."

Writing more notes in his head he felt Xilo attack him two times in a row. "He's finally cracking." Feeling the impatience in Xilo's movements Aeon dodged both attacks before quickly striking back. Forcing out a palm he slammed it into Xilo's chest knocking the wind out of him entirely. Letting Xilo's body fall to the ground he waited to see if he would get back up. "That should have knocked him out." He wasn't going soft in that attack so it should have easily knocked him out. "Maybe not though.." Xilo's body twitched as he resisted the urge to fall asleep. Gathering his thoughts he tried to breathe as he barely held on. Using every ounce of strength he could he moved his hand and tried to push himself off the ground one last time.

"...One...more..."

He pushed as hard as he could yet he never felt his body move no matter how hard he tried. "Why?" Even after what felt like a minute Xilo kept trying to push himself up but nothing was working. His body refused to listen to his mind. "...Is this all I've got?" Looking up Xilo saw Aeon staring down at him with anger. "Dammit." A wave of pressure surrounded his body as his eyes began to shut. Xilo's hand slowly lost any grip they had as felt himself losing all the power in his body. "I failed." Before he could even try to accept failure he felt the world go completely black, shutting him off from anything and everything.

"It looks like it's over now."

With Xilo now out of it for sure, Aeon leaned down and picked up his body, throwing Xilo over his shoulder. Aeon pointed at Xelfia and Felli.

"You two are up next. Tearia could you take care of Xilo while he's out of it?"

"Oh, uh, yes of course."

Grabbing Xilo's body, Tearia quickly tended to his injuries while the other girls faced Aeon.

"Alright, Felli first come at me with all your strength and then Xelfia."