Becoming a Weapon

Break time is over. Patrick and Furia are back into training to learn about the power Patrick just discovered.

Becoming a Weapon

Those weeks passed so fast, suddenly I was back in training clothes, waiting for Clyde to explain me the basics about Vital Energy Usage. The others were ready as well. Hopefully there aren't any more surprises like the last one…

Furia was expectative. She, as a Dragon, was the only one who could see my magic, besides myself. We were both infinitely intrigued by how I would apply this in combat.

-Materialization… That's the basic rule about Magic. You will materialize any kind of non-mechanized object reachable for your imagination. From blunt weapons to sharp ones, even throwables.

I started with manipulation of the Vital Energy. Being able to bend it as I wanted was the most important lesson; that's why it was the first one. I learned how to generate a stick half a meter long, like a baton. Clyde had me hitting a tree with it several times a day. Impacts have effect on Vital Energy, they act against its solidity. If an impact is strong enough, it will break through the magical weapon and leave the user defenseless. The more I hit the tree, the more exhausted I got, but at an amazingly faster rate, though that didn't stop me from getting further. Once I could control a single baton with any of my hands, I began practicing with two batons, one in each hand. At a given time, I could use my limited knowledge of magic for combat. I fought against 2 guys armed as well with batons for I had the advantage of using invisible weapons.

Next came sharp weapons. Blades were harder to generate due to its main characteristic: The Edge. It took me several days to find the correct way of generating an edged object. But when I finally did, I learned how to sharpen it like a razor. Tricky detail about edged weapons was that they required much more energy to be effective. Blades are by far thinner than blunt objects; I had to put much more energy so they could be consistent and fairly unbreakable.

Clyde set a bunch of logs for me to cut in half. When I finally got the handle of a single blade, I tried to double blade, but it was suicidal. A single blade required an amazing amount of continual energy investment. I generated a second one for a moment, and I couldn't stand up all of a sudden. Then I tried generating it with my left hand only, that way I would have blade experience on both arms. But it doesn't work that way; the marked hand is the leading hand, it's stronger and more capable than the other hand in terms of Vital Energy Usage. Still, I did practiced blades with my left hand; suddenly switching blade with both of my hands would be very useful.

Also, I discovered that I could combine both my hands on the same object and make it even stronger by grabbing it with both of my hands. That worked with both blunt and sharp weapons.

Next in line were throwables. These were a big deal, for they carried a lot of details involved. It wasn't just generating something, swinging an arm and there it goes. The first was having in mind how the throwable works: It won't go any further than the distance the objective is, even if the user fails. The further the objective is, the greater the energy required for the throw. If an user aims for an objective located further than the distance it can handle, runs the risk of killing itself, because once a throwable is created for an specific distance, the exact amount of Vital Energy will be invested even if the user lacks it. Also, for more solid projectiles, to make more damage, the more energy is invested in the throw as well. And last but not least, the throwable dissipates once it fulfills its purpose.

Every night I rode Furia; she always got to her limits and slightly further when possible, to enlarge them. Her stats improved a lot. Right after the vacations, Furia became seven months old. I noticed that I stopped checking her size. Still, I could assure she was almost unnoticeably bigger than last time I checked. Comparing to earlier times, her growing rate decreased to almost nothing. When I explained Clyde about my concern, he told me "7 months is what takes for dragons to match their growth and aging with their Rider, you won't notice her grow for a very long time now". I was happy to hear Furia wouldn't outgrow her saddle quickly, even though it was adjustable.

Once I mastered throwables, both normal balls, with many solid compositions and many distances. I discovered that I could throw as well edged objects, which I called Daggers. Throwables had another detail: once mastered the ability, it wasn't required a lot of physical strength for the arm swing. An experienced user would just use more energy to power up the throw. That way, even a soft and quick arm swing in the proper direction would be capable of delivering devastating effects.

Throwables had also another use: Air Combat. This one was all about coordination, the only wrong thing that could happen to an user was hitting its dragon's wings, fall to the ground and die. In this one I was completely on my own, for there was no way Clyde could instruct me up there. We modified the saddle with the addition of a belt that would hold me against the saddle by my waist. That way I could use both of my hands for combat. I started easy, with soft balls being thrown at random directions pointed out by Furia, that to recreate combat's randomness. There was also another way of attacking: Using the dragon's vision; but there was a risk with this: the sights of the rider and the dragon aren't calibrated to the same point. If a user is using its dragon's vision while attacking, it won't see the attack coming from itself and towards the objective, it will see the attack being generated at its dragon's back, where the rider is, to then go to the place it was aimed. Which means; there is no vision of the wings, they could be easily hit this way. Still, the dragon's vision is an amazing tool for picking targets in especial situations. If I wanted to become a true warrior, I had to master this as well. Besides, nothing could go wrong using soft balls until I got the handle of it. Only bad thing was that all I could practice my aiming with were ground targets. I would be in great trouble if facing a dogfight.

Right when I felt having reached the last lesson, Clyde threw me a new one: Healing. I couldn't believe it at first, not that anything I've been doing lately was believable; it just surprised me. Healing only worked with mechanical traumas: broken bones, cuts… that sort of stuff. It was impossible to cure an illness with Vital Energy. It also had two limitations: One, the graver the injury is, the more Vital Energy it'll require. Two, it was impossible for an user to heal himself. I practiced this ability with the guys after the following training fights.

There were some details, practical tricks that I discovered by myself, without Clyde's instructions. That was for sure a lesson: One does not simply teach everything about Vital Energy. It has its generalities and basics, but the true mastering of the art is all about how each user uses it, how every user understands it on its own way, even the same aspect. That's what mastering Vital Energy Usage means: Using it the way the user does, feeling it the way the user does… nobody else has voice there.

I won't forget the last training session… I was standing, facing the sky with my eyes closed. I could feel Furia's soft touch in my mind and her presence as well. They meant strength for me, not comfort, for she wouldn't interfere in the following events. Everything was silent, but I knew it wouldn't last that way for long. Clyde and the four surrounded me; each of them armed with a baton. With an exhalation I took my look forward and opened my eyes.

Suddenly, I crossed my arms with a quick motion, throwing two crossed balls that hit, each, Thomas and Oliver. Jack, who was in front of me, charged in my direction, as well as Clyde, on my rear right and Alan on my rear left. I blocked and countered Jack's attack with two hits of my baton; one to the knee and a second one to the head. Then both Clyde and Alan attacked. Now armed with two batons I blocked and countered, hit Clyde on the stomach and Alan on the face. When Thomas and Oliver recovered, they rushed at me; I dived through an opening between Clyde and Alan, rolled on the ground and was now in the open. Thomas and Oliver closed on me from both sides; I took advantage of the now gained distance and threw fast balls at them. I didn't count them, I saw my targets being hit and didn't stop until they fell to the ground in pain. Quickly, Jack went around and made a formation with Clyde and Alan. Jack was at the left side, Alan was in the middle and Clyde was at the right side. They closed on me, but I created a gap between them by throwing a fast ball at Alan's face, making him retreat. I charged at Clyde and made a quick row of attacks. Jack tried attacking, but I kicked Clyde away and faced Jack, blocked his attack and countered with a quick row that left him on the ground. Then Alan recovered and attacked, same ending.

Clyde, the last target standing, but grunting of pain along with the rest of the targets scattered over the ground, took a look around, dropped his baton, and said…

-There's no need to go further on. You've done well, Patrick.

I was panting; dissipated the batons and approached Clyde.

-Thanks.

-You've fully completed your training. It's an honor for me to shake a Dragon Rider's hand.  -Clyde said offering me his hand.

At first, reluctance crossed my mind, but I just rolled with it and shook Clyde's hand. Suddenly he twisted my wrist, making me lose balance. I tried to hit him with a baton in my other hand, but he caught my other wrist as well and twisted it, generating more pain on me. He jumped at me and hit my face with his head. Not loosening my hands even a little bit, he kicked my knee outwards and made me fall on the other one. Then his knee met my face a few times and then my stomach some others. Clyde twisted my wrists even more and made me fall to my side. Trying to push myself up, I suddenly felt pressure on my throat, it was his knee.

-An adversary is trustable only when's completely dead. Remember that. Now get up.

I got back up, rubbing my throat.

-Damn… you got me good. I won't buy it next time.

-I know. Also, what I said was true… (Offers hand to me again) Dragon Rider.