Just after everyone split up into groups. On the training platform, Silas stands, awaiting instruction…
"So you need some help with your sword skills and magic huh? Well my son here is the best damn magician I know. You'll be alright. Once you get the basics, we'll have a little spar, and I'll teach you some stuff, kid" Haitao explained. He grabbed a chair to the side and got ready to take a nap, covering his face with his conical hat.
"Powerful forms of magic are very hard for people with low ether to use. How about you show me yours, and I'll decide if this is pointless for you. Just think about your ether being expelled from your body, like you're releasing it almost."
Silas listened and did what he'd practiced countless times before. His Ether responded instantly, denser than it had ever been. Meditation had sharpened it. Strengthened it. Silas closed his eyes, calming his mind, relaxing his body, his ether started to leak out of his body. To Fang it looked like a roaring stream, erupting from him. It just got bigger, and larger, that much ether being released at once caused it to blow back Fang, and knock over Haitao's chair.
"That kid…" Haitao stiffened. "He might have more raw power than Fang."Haitao thought to himself.
"Calm it down!" Fang yelled over to Silas. Silas calmed down his power, until it was a peaceful flow. "Now what immediately calls out to you?" Silas thought about it, he went over everything. His fighting style, personality, appearance. But the one that stood out the most?
Water.
It was the perfect way to describe his fighting style, even some of the moves in his sword style are named after different types of streams.
"Water," Silas said. "It fits how I fight. How I move."
"Okay, this is all about imagination, but to help you, I'll jump start the process." Fang grabbed a bucket and used water magic to fill it up. Then he created a large bubble of water and placed it above Silas's head. It burst, and Silas was completely drenched, "don't get mad or anything. It helps to practice in your element, being wet, and placing your hands in water can boost the process. The feeling helps people understand it better." Fang explained.
Silas placed his hands in the bucket of water, "now imagine the water crawling around your arm, covering it completely. Not dripping, instead moving around your arm, like puffy arm sleeves."
Silas focused, transferring his Ether to his arms, he felt the cold water, how it took the shape of the bucket. It was formless, it adapted, became things. How it could be so violent, yet so calm. The water slowly ascended his arm, he removed his arms from the bucket, holding them outward, not a single drop hit the ground.
"Impressive, not many beginners can do that. You must have natural talent. Now that you seem to be in control of it, try producing more of it. Once you do that, you should be able to create water on your own." Fang explained.
Silas imagined more water coming out of his hands, filling the bubble even more, making it grow. It was gradual but the water bubble seemed to be growing in size, eventually becoming too much for Silas and causing him to drop all the water. Silas decided to instead, create a spike of water, like a throwing dagger. It floated above his hand.
"And you can create objects. I think you've already reached the limit of what I'm prepared to teach you. The rest you should be able to figure out." Fang prepared to blast his father to wake him up, but Silas stopped him. "Wait. I have a question and you seem pretty reliable."
Fang looked annoyed, "shoot."
"Can you tell me what you know about spirit manifestation? I pulled it off in my fight against Liwei, but I haven't been able to do it since then."
"I can."
"Spirit manifestation is basically just a manifestation of your willpower and the memories of an ancestor, family member, friend, pretty much and close relationship you had. That can be achieved easily, but you'd have to train it. Can you describe what happened?"
"Yeah. I was fighting Liwei, and he had my back against the wall. I felt this warmth wrap around me, like a hug. Then I felt a giant hand on my shoulder, and behind me was my ancestor from long ago. I had never seen pictures of him, but he held my family's sword so I realized it must have been him. I couldn't have had a close relationship, so I don't know what it was." Silas explained.
"I see. That was the TrueSpirit Manifestation. When someone who is tied to you comes to protect you. He must've decided to come out and protect you. Unlike the 'fake' spirit manifestation, this one is harder to master. You have to build a relationship with your ancestor, since there is virtually none. When he decides to come out next time, you'll have to talk to him. Or meditate and see if he will invite you to the spirit plane."
Fang blasted his father with wind to wake him up again, "I'm out of here dad. He's already advanced, so I don't need to teach him anything else." Fang walked away, heading home.
Haitao grumbled as he stood up, he approached Silas, "so you're the real deal huh? Advanced already, impressive. Let's spar, I want to see what you've got before I teach you my sword techniques. Don't worry, I won't use magic."
Silas was tossed a wooden sword, Haitao held out his hand, and one formed in his hand. "Its a convenient ability I have." He said.
Silas circled him, light on his feet. Once he slipped behind Haitao, he rushed forward and stomped the ground. A wall of water surged upward, and Silas dashed behind it, using the sudden rise as cover.
Haitao's back was fully turned. Silas thrust with speed, confidence surging through him from the training he'd just completed.
But Haitao was no pushover.
Without even turning around, Haitao raised his sword over his shoulder, stopping the wooden blade inches from his back. He spun in one smooth motion, swinging downward with full force. Silas leapt back just in time, watching as Haitao's strike smashed into the ground, cracking it beneath the impact.
Silas swallowed hard, "that could've been me." he thought to himself.
Haitao dashed forward, coiling his arm back, and thrusting it forward like a bullet from a gun. Silas blocked, but the force still sent him skidding backward. Haitao pressed in again, gripping his sword with both hands and slashing diagonally downward from the right.
Silas barely dodged to the left, the blade missing him by a hair. He retaliated instantly, swinging with blinding speed toward Haitao's head. He continued the assault, flipping his blade smoothly and cutting upward.
Haitao remained stone-faced, effortlessly avoiding the strike. The missed swing left Silas exposed.
Haitao thrust again, but Silas reacted just in time, snapping the tip of his blade downward and deflecting the attack into the ground.
Haitao's eyebrows rose.
Silas shifted to the side. He had been gathering water from the moisture in the soil beneath them. He stomped the ground, forcing the water upward in a sharp burst that slammed into Haitao's chin.
The force launched Haitao into the air.
Mid-flight, Haitao twisted, flipping backward and catching his fall with his hands before springing back to his feet. Instantly, another wooden sword formed in his grasp. Then he extended his left hand, creating a second.
"Dual wielding now, I see," Silas said.
Haitao rolled his shoulders, testing the weight of both blades. "Think of it as a sign of respect, kid. I don't feel the need to hold back anymore."
Haitao focused his ether into his hands, extending both forward. A massive sphere of wind began to form, swelling like a balloon being blown up. It quickly grew to the size of a boulder.
Keeping the wind sphere moving beside him, Haitao charged.
His assault was relentless. The strikes came faster now. Too fast. Silas could barely keep up, he struggled to block one blade while the other slipped through his guard. A cut grazed his arm. Another nearly caught his leg.
Silas focused on defending the flanks, and left his torso exposed. Haitao seized the opening, driving a knee into Silas's stomach.
Silas groaned as the air was knocked from his lungs. Haitao slipped behind him and kicked him square in the back, sending him stumbling forward.
Straight into the boulder of wind.
It hit him like a brick wall. The force carried him across the ground, tearing at his body, rattling his bones. His vision blurred as he fought to stay conscious, digging in with everything he had. His feet slid backward, unable to gain traction. The pain was overwhelming.
He emptied his mind.
"Pain is just weakness leaving the body, right pop?", he thought to himself.
His ether surged. It rose slowly at first, then stronger, pushing outward. The wind sphere began to slow. Silas stopped sliding, he planted his feet, standing firm against the crushing force.
With a roar, he thrust his arm forward and released everything he had left. The blast tore through the wind, dispersing it violently and nearly knocking Haitao off his feet.
It worked.
Silas dropped to one knee, utterly exhausted. His body screamed in protest as the world came rushing back into focus. He realized how much had time had passed when he noticed the sun sinking low in the sky.
A shadow fell over him.
Silas looked up to see an outstretched hand, it was Haitao.
"You've earned my respect," Haitao said. "Go rest. You'll be better by tomorrow. If not, Fang can patch you up."
Silas accepted the hand and rose, nodding before turning to leave.
"Oh, and kid," Haitao called after him, raising a thumbs up. "Damn good job today."
Silas grinned. "Thanks."