Chapter 6: Training

He suddenly woke up, a sword manifesting in his hand as he suddenly sat up. He was looking around the room.

There was a moment of silence before there was a gentle clapping as Danny manifested from the shadows of his room. ''Good.''

Alex seeing him sighed before his sword vanished and he sat up, rubbing his eyes a bit as he let his eyes adjust to the darkness. ''Was that you trying to see if I could sense killing intent and react to it?''

Danny gave a nod before tilting his head a bit for him to follow. Alex stood up and in nothing but trousers followed him out his room, down the stairs, and down another flight of stairs, he didn't notice before. He walked by a lit room with a Maya currently working over his armor, seeing him she waved before going back to work. The room seemed to be her workstation, a lot of random things scattered the floor but there were books, potions of varying colors and brightness, crystals, scrolls, all sorts of sorcery, and magical mumbo as she called it. He continued to follow Danny until making their way into a massive room that was bare other than a pedestal in the middle.

Danny stood next to it and Alex just sort of stood there awkwardly before he heard the small slaps of bare feet come in, Maya running towards them before stopping next to the pedestal opposite of Danny. Slapping the side of it with a small hand.

''This is a 'Form' Array, or what can be told the 'Core' of this house. It has many, many functions, but some of the ones we're going to use are one, illusion. It can create a semi-real pseudo realm, all be it a small one but as long as someone is fueling mana to it, and creating it as it goes on it can be seen as infinite, or at least a loop. This is how you will be training all your skills that don't really need combat, and you can also ask any of us to help train with you if we're free."

"Another use is 'Time' A very powerful time-warping effect. We only have access to it because of my status in the Mage Circle, and a lot of money. I'll explain more what a Mage circle is later, but for now, Danny is going to train you in shadow walk, it's the skill that allows him to disappear so easily, he's reached mastery in it since his race, and magic core all follow the Darkness element, as does his Aura so he is really good with it..''

''The first thing you have to do is, rather simple. Just walk through the illusion. It will be extremely dark and you won't be able to see, for this purpose he asks you not us any sort of light. There will be no dangers or anything, you just need to walk in a world of darkness. Danny will pull you out once he thinks you're ready for the next step.''

Alex gave a nod before simply stretching out his legs, soon Maya left and Danny simply put his hand onto the pedestal. As soon as he did Alex was in darkness, no light whatsoever. Even waving his hand in front of his face he couldn't see anything, he felt blind. He couldn't hear anything either, so he started to simply walk.

And oh boy, did he walk. He thought about things he could try, things he should focus on to experiment first. Things he needed, things he wanted, things he wanted to see, things he wanted to avoid.

After hours he continued walking, it didn't seem his legs were getting tired so he simply kept walking.

He wasn't sure exactly, how long had it been since he started, but he never stopped, eventually his mind emptied of things to think about. He didn't even get tired, but without anything, for his mind to turn to, it emptied.

It was then he felt something different, as his mind emptied and he thought about nothing, he felt as if his form became sofer, easier to breathe, to move. As he felt this new refreshing feeling he continued to walk

'If they don't want me to run, they'd do something about it, so let's change up the pace.'

Soon, he was in full sprint, since he felt air circulated much easier through him. He continued to sprint, never running out of breath.

Soon, just for fun, he began to pretend he was running through an obstacle course, jumping over things, between things, squeezing his way over things.

Then he had an idea, if he could strengthen his grip over something, couldn't he make it worse? So focusing his aura on his legs he made it so his grip was less before he went to his knee's and slid as if he was sliding under something, when he did he leaned forward, strengthening the grip of his feet he shot forward once more, going back into a full sprint.

Soon he felt something shiver round him, slowly the darkness became less and less, the light slowly adjusting as he stopped, letting his eyes adjust. Soon he was standing before Danny once more as if he never moved, Danny's face was serious, however.

Soon Maya came sprinting in once more, it seemed she was Danny's spokesperson for tonight. She slapped into Alex who easily caught her, setting her down in front of him before she started speaking.

''Danny's mad that it took you a short time to make a small advancement. It took him almost a month before he could do what you did and you only took a week.''

Alex thought a moment, what advancement did he make? Then it hit him. ''Wait, what do you mean a week? I was only in there for a few hours right?''

Maya chuckled with a shake of her head. ''Remember how I said it's a strong time warp? Well, the closer to the core you are the stronger it gets. When you passed me when I was making your equipment? It was two days for me since I'm on the same floor. I'll explain to it more but you looked confused over advancement so let me help you.''

She conjured a large pillar, it was thrumming with magic so it seemed to be a magic construct, a large wall, soon she adjusted the light of the room so one side of the wall had shadows covering half the room.

''Enter the shadow and mimic the feeling you had when your breathing became easier.''

Alex thought about it for a moment, thinking back to what triggered it, it was when he felt empty, or at least free. So he stepped into the shadows and he noticed the immediate effects, it was much easier to breathe in the shadow. Looking around he looked to them. ''I feel different, but does breathing better mean much?"

Danny snickered shaking his head as if remembering his own time thinking the same thing. Maya spoke. ''It's not that it's easier to breathe, you simply require less oxygen, look at your hands.''

Alex did as instructed and raised his hands, when he did he noticed how his hands were slightly see-through, instead of seeing his skin, he saw a dark mist that followed him a bit after his movements. He raised a brow before looking down, the same was for the rest of him. Putting a hand out into the light it began to solidify once more.

''To clarify, you know how Danny completely vanished to your eyes? Well, you can still see yourself, all be it differently, however to me without focusing, I only see what 'Seems' to be a person, and that's only because you're just starting. To someone untrained, or even only slightly trained, however, you look like all the other shadows. Danny, I'm sure can see you very well.''

Danny only nodded before Maya continued. ''And, eventually, after you get to higher levels, you will also become intangible, which means air also passes through you, and where you will still breathe, you won't actually be breathing. It only seemed to get easier too because once you do, your form becomes less solid, and allows mana to path through more easily.''

''Actually, all of us know this skill, since it helps training in mana a lot. It helps to increase the amount of mana you can use a lot easier than doing it without needing to focus too much on how you draw it in. It can technically replace a mana breathing technique, but using it with one is far better.''

Alex gave a nod before he stepped forward back into the light, the wall fell as soon the light became even through the whole room again.

''Now, Danny has taught you the starting goal of Shadow Walk, now it's up to you have good you become with it, but a shortcut is basically just finding out how to 'Breathe better' while doing it until you don't feel the need to breathe. Once you reach that stage, you can move onto the next stage.''

Danny gave a nod before leaving, leaving just him and Maya, who conjured a table and a couch, as well as a comfortable chair, once she nestled into it Alex laid across the couch.

''I'm going to teach you some basics that you need to know about mana. First, we'll start with what 'Mana Breathing' is.'' She sat relaxed before a small board appeared floating in Alex's vision, writing things down as she spoke.

''Mana breathing, in short terms is just the process of breathing mana from your surroundings, into you. There are two types of this, one is Control Breathing, and the other is Capacity Breathing, they explain themselves but I'll just say for clarification, one form of Mana breathing, is Control Breathing, which helps you control the mana you can use, and how well you use it. It's done through a certain exercise while breathing, you can think of it like dancing while breathing in a certain pattern while stimulating your mana. This is the first technique you will learn since it is what you lack. You already have a huge capacity even without a mana core because of how much mana loves you, but it's never wrong to not increase it. Capacity breathing is basically following a set way of breathing, breathing in mana until it feels like you have too much, then slowly releasing it, sometimes you'll feel pain when breathing it especially at higher levels, or the deeper your mana capacity is. Do you understand?''

Alex gave a nod before he spoke. ''Is there a required method to it?''

Maya smiled to that. ''Technically, there isn't. Anyone can do it as long as they understand the basics, but there is many books and manuals describing some of the better ways to do it, but I've learned it's better to find your own technique since it's different for everyone. Find one you feel comfortable with and practice in it, as you do I'll be able to tell if it can be improved or not.''

''Alright, I've no more questions.''

Maya erased the floating board before another session began. ''Now, I will go into Aura, and Mana Capacity, which isn't that different other than the energy provided. In short, imagine a glass, fill it with water. Once it's full, if you put in any more it will overflow, overflow is not bad in any way other then it's a lot easier to notice if you're overflowing, that's why I can so clearly see the mana around you because your glass is small but you have a lot of mana. Overflowing mana creates a mental pressure on others around you like something is forcing your brain to submit to a certain train of thought. Whereas overflowing Aura presents a physical pressure, like making it harder to move, harder to breathe for those around you. Though it's helpful, especially when scaring off people weaker than you, I can not stress this enough. Just because you have a large capacity, doesn't make you dangerous. One Tier 1 is better than 100 Tier 0. So just because you can throw a lot of magic or Aura out, doesn't mean you have the advantage, is it a good card to hold? Always.''

''So now you know overflowing, there is something called 'Underflow' which is dangerous, especially if done recklessly, or in a large amount. It basically means drawing more then you have access to use. So let's put it into debt, if a spell costs ten copper, and you have a mana capacity of ten copper, and you use all ten copper, you will at most just feel tired. However, let's say you use a spell that requires fifteen copper, while only having ten copper in your purse. You will go into debt or in this case 'Underflow.' It will take all your 'copper' then use the rest through other means, it usually means your very life force.''

''Just in case, if you do it too much, you will die an early death. I strongly recommend you don't do this, and if you need to, it is in a life or death situation already. Understand?"

With Alex's nod, he shifted to lay on his side, turning to face her, the board floated to be beside her. ''No questions either.''

''Good, next is cores.'' The board whipped itself again before she continued.

''A Mana Core, and Aura core are only different in two aspects, their position, and their color spectrum. A mana core is beneath the belly button, or at the stomach. An Aura core is inside the heart.''

Alex thought a moment, if they became physical, and placed themselves there, how did it work? If it grew larger, wouldn't it eventually burst out?

''You're thinking about size, aren't you?'' Alex gave a nod after she asked.

''Well, cores don't actually change the size, they remain a size that's comfortable for that person's body. Instead to show a stronger core depends on the color the core is. For a Mana core, it starts off a very, very dark shade of blue, almost black. Then as it goes in strength, it will slowly become brighter until it's a bright light blue that glows. Once it reaches a bright white blue the color stops changing, but the glow gets 'brighter.'. Same for Red, however, it's on a red spectrum of color, however, the highest form of each is speculated to be white since eventually, it will just be so strong there will be no true color other then the ''Start'' of colors, or so they say. Not a lot of information has been researched in the last few centuries so it's hard to accurately describe them.''

Alex gave a nod, making a mental note that he should look into it himself later. ''Makes sense, while also not making sense but I guess I can't blame anyone other than myself, since if I want more knowledge than what's provided it's my own job to get it.''

Maya giggled at that as the board cleaned itself again. ''Any questions?"

Alex sat up to sit properly. ''Can you explain the time warp thing?''

Maya nodded before she started. ''Imagine time as a single number, 1. That is how we're used to seeing time move, 7 days a week, 4 weeks a month, 12 months a year. So on so forth, now, we change that number to 2. Now? It's 14 days a week, 8 weeks a month, 24 months a year. The number of times, being 1, or 2, determines how slow time moves. Just inside the tent, when you enter the door, you walk into a time 2. Towards the back of the stairs, a 3. This floor at the start? a 4, then all the way to a 7 right here. It's very powerful, and as of right now unstable technically, but still can be worked.''

''As of when started camp, only the night has passed so it is technically the morning, so about 12 hours. However, the moment you entered, that 12 hours became 24, and in the time you have spent down here, it has just passed before noon when we usually set out. To you, while you were in that illusion it didn't seem long, but to us, it was a few 'Days'. It's confusing at first, but as I get stronger I can better make the time warp more stable, but there are no side effects being in the time warp, if anything it's only beneficial if you use it properly.''

''Even herbs grow faster here, so on so forth, I actually hope to train you fast enough to begin helping me, since the biggest amount of time is working on runes for it, but since you can remember the rune exactly, and not need to look back to it after a few times, you can make my job a lot easier.''

Alex gave a nod before he stood up to stretch. ''If that's everything then, I'm pretty much ready to go, how is everyone else?''

He saw a flash of something before he caught it in his hand, taking a look at it. It was an earring, without thinking he put it onto his ear, not even caring for the prick that came with it. Suddenly voices appeared in his head.

'Ask them yourself. M'

'DID YOU FINALLY GIVE HIM THE EARRING? G'

'Shut up. D'

'Hi Alex! S'

'Hello, this is actually pretty easy to use.'

'You can also mute certain loud people. M.'

'THAT SUPPOSED TO BE AN-. G'

Alex grinned the moment he stopped hearing Gerald while hearing giggles and snickers across the board once they noticed Gerald got cut off.

'Alright, I get it, I'll stop yelling. Just don't exclude me from this man. G'

'I mean, as long as you don't scream, I won't be an ass about it. Is everyone ready to head out?'

'Yes. D'

'Let me get my clothes back on! S'

'Sure, let me finish sharpening my sword. G.'

Maya just smiled at Alex and stood as the couch, chair, board, and table all disappeared as they walked with each other. Maya pulled him a bit into her workspace before tiptoeing around all the random things on the floor before eventually coming back to him with his armor. ''Repair spell is better, cleaning spell now included you as well, it just doesn't have the same relaxation as taking a bath. With the added safe fall enchantment and another enchantment that allows me to pull you towards me. Think of it as a safety rope? I just don't need to have the muscle of Gerald to pull you.''