"More! Use it on your muscles!" shouted Zendrell, his blade crackling with crimson eidra as he swung it hard toward Jinn.
*Clang!
"Beco eidra itself—just like I told you!" he continued, his voice sharp and commanding.
After three full days of nonstop training, Jinn had finally learned to control the crimson eidra properly. He poured it into every inch of his body, just as Zendrell had instructed the first they started training.
With each step, each swing, and every parry—he felt faster, lighter, and stronger. He could now track Zendrell's near-instant strikes with his eye—dodging them with precision, then countering with an attack.
The guards surrounding the training ground watched in silence at first, their eyes wide with disbelief. In just three days, Jinn had mastered the basic use of eidra in combat—a feat most took weeks, even months to grasp.
They began to cheer loudly, their voices rising with excitent. Jinn was a genius in battle, and they all saw it now.
As the roar of the soldiers echoed through the training ground—Zendrell gave a small smirk.
"Look at them," he said, glancing toward the crowd of soldiers around before turning his gaze back to Jinn.
"They're cheering for you. Don't you feel proud?"
Jinn raised his sword with both hands, settling into a firm fighting stance. His eyes narrowed, locked onto Zendrell with focus.
"Hardly," he replied promptly.
Zendrell relaxed his stance, letting his shoulders drop slightly.
But Jinn didn't move.
He had already learned that look—Zendrell often feigned ignorance only to strike the mont soone lowered their guard.
Zendrell casually tapped the flat of his blade against his shoulder a few tis before speaking.
"A few more hours, and you'll be heading back to the slave camp," he said, a grin tugging at the edge of his mouth. "The second trial awaits. And now that you've learned how to wrap yourself in eidra..."
He placed both hands on the hilt of his sword, his tone shifting to sothing more playful. "I suppose I should show you a move or two—Zendrell style."
"Zendrell sty—" Jinn muttered before his eyes widened.
In the blink of an eye—faster than Jinn had ever seen before—Zendrell vanished from his spot and surged forward with blinding speed.
This ti, his movent had a clear and practiced form behind it—his movent from before was a far cry.
Gripping his hilt tightly, Zendrell bared his teeth as the muscles in his arms tensed.
"Grrr." He growled as he gritted his teeth.
His veins bulged from the strain as he brought the sword upward in a powerful slash from below.
Jinn saw it coming. His eyes tracked the motion—but his body refused to react.
Sothing about Zendrell's eidra—it radiated more than power.
It radiated...
Fear.
It froze Jinn in place like prey staring down a predator.
move. Move. MOVE!
Jinn scread the command in his head multiple tis, but his limbs didn't respond.
Even the eidra flowing through his own body seed shocked—paralyzed by the sheer pressure pouring off from Zendrell.
And then—with a smirk, Zendrell changed the path of his swing at the last mont. The blade shifted just slightly, the edge missing Jinn by only a few centiters.
Crimson eidra burst from the sword in a towering arc,
*BANG—*ROAR!!!
roaring into the air like a beast unleashed.
The force of it howled through the training ground, cutting a glowing mark across the do at the sky—before closing once again.
Zendrell's sword felt alive—wild, brutal, and impossible to match.
Jinn's eyes widened.
This... this was Zendrell's true strength—at least a glimpse of it.
And if he could do this with a regular blade, how terrifying would he be with his true weapon—the large sword he carried on his back?
Raising his sword toward Jinn, Zendrell spoke with a smirk.
"What do you think, kid?" He then stepped back toward the center of the training ground.
"You might not be able to copy it exactly—Venedix's eidra is different from mine afterall—but you sure as hell can pull off that kind of attack."
Jinn lowered his sword and walked toward him, calm but clearly interested. "Seems useful," he said. "Teach ."
"It's simple, really," Zendrell replied promptly, angling his sword slightly.
He then placed two fingers along the flat of the blade, aligning them with the edge.
"Rember how you learned to fill every inch of your body with eidra?"
Jinn gave a small nod in reply.
"Well, now you do the sa thing—but this ti, you push your eidra into your weapon," Zendrell explained.
"You don't stop coating your body with it. You just focus extra energy into your blade at the sa ti."
He gave a quick swing into the air, the motion sharp and clean, before shading his brow with his hand as he looked at the sky.
"Then, when it's all built up," he said, lowering his hand, "you swing it. With everything you've got."
Zendrell raised his sword again, sliding smoothly into his stance. His grin returned.
"From there," he added, "you can use this idea to shape your own moves. Make them yours. That's what separates a soldier—from a warrior."
"Accumulating eidra into the blade, without weakening the eidra already flowing through my body...?" Jinn muttered, narrowing his eyes as he slowed his breathing and focused.
The eidra running through his body pulsed with each heartbeat, steady and strong.
His veins glowed faintly, carrying the crimson energy down to the tips of his fingers—then into the sword gripped tightly in his hands.
Accumulate and Focus.
He honed in on the sensation, not letting the energy slip or scatter. Slowly, deliberately, he raised his blade again.
Sparks crackled along its edge.
The power gathered and Jinn's focus didn't waver.
The sword began to hum—a deep, sharp tone filled with tension—as streaks of red lightning danced across the tal.
Jinn could feel it.
Raw power.
Waiting to be unleashed.
He gritted his teeth and swung with everything he had, the muscles in his arms straining, veins bulging as the eidra surged.
"RAAAH!!" He scread as he swung with every ounce of strength he has.
*CRACK—BOOM!!!
The air split open with a thunderous roar.
A massive arc of red lightning shot from the blade, tearing through the do at the sky with such force that it echoed far beyond the training ground.
Guards ducked.
Others froze in place.
Even those far from the area turned their heads at the sound.
It was like lightning crashing down from the heavens.
It was as if Venedix herself was the one who had unleashed the attack.
Miles away, rilyn paused mid-sentence.
She was still speaking to Orin when the thunderclap reached them.
Her eyes narrowed as she turned toward the window, then glanced toward the direction of the sound.
"...Elder sister?" she whispered—her voice low.
===
*HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Zendrell's booming laughter echoed across the training ground, blending with the loud cheers of the surrounding soldiers.
With heavy thuds,
*THUD! THUD! THUD!
he patted Jinn on the back several tis, each strike like a slap of approval.
"Venedix's eidra—with my technique—now that's a sight to see!" he roared, clearly proud of Jinn's progress.
Jinn's arm trembled, the aftershock of the attack still pulsing through his muscles.
He looked down just in ti to see the blade in his hand crumble into dust, disintegrating the sa way it had when he tried to protect Ophelia.
His fingers Then curled and tightened into a fist.
"This power... I need to control it," he said under his breath.
Zendrell let out another hearty laugh. "Hah! Who the hell controls power? Let it loose, let it roar!" he said, before reaching into a satchel and tossing Jinn a familiar weapon—Fangeryth, the blade Venedix had entrusted to him.
"Besides," Zendrell added, "you won't need to worry if you're wielding this beauty."
Jinn caught the sword with his still-shaking hand, the weight of it grounding him. "No," he muttered, shaking his head slightly.
"If I keep using that kind of attack recklessly, my body won't hold up. I need to build it slowly... smaller portions of eidra, until my body can handle the load."
Zendrell crossed his arms and tilted his head, thinking it over.
Then he nodded. "If you're talking about absolute mastery and control of eidra," he said, "there's no one more suited than Venedix herself."
"Or that house..." he muttered to himself with a scoff.
"Venedix..." Jinn echoed, his voice thoughtful, almost distant.
But before the thought could fully settle, Zendrell's foot shot out and slamd into his stomach.
*THUD!
Jinn stumbled back slightly, but this ti—he didn't fall.
The hit did hurt, but not like before. His body had strengthened.
Zendrell grinned, letting his own sword fall to the ground.
*Thud
"Co on, we've still got ti. Let's use the rest of these hours for hand-to-hand combat!"
Jinn smirked in return, rolling his shoulders and raising both fists. "Fine then," he said—eyes narrowing with focus.
"Grit your teeth."
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