Morgan’s grueling training continued, day after day. He’d run in the mornings until he almost passed out, then dive until he felt like his lungs were just about to explode.
In the evenings, he’d et with Rebecca in the library to study history, arithtic, and art, among other things.
As the days and weeks flew by, he gradually began to notice the changes in his body.
As he stood in front of the mirror, his reflection stared back at him. He had grown taller, and he could run for longer periods without tiring. He had also grown leaner.
Scott had long since returned to the Pyreptar academy. It had been nearly 6 months since Morgan’s arrival at the estate. He quickly donned his tracksuit and jogged to the dojo to et Luke.
He found him standing silently by the entrance.
"Today you won’t be running. We’ll work on your basic combat skills."
Luke calmly removed his coat and rolled up his sleeves—so of the n who were sparring stopped to observe what was happening.
" First of all, we’ll see which weapon you have a feel for. Of course, I’ll do my best to make sure that you beco well acquainted with each of the others since there are situations in which you will not have the luxury of picking a weapon of your choosing."
Several weapons lay on a rack at the front of the dojo, Japanese katanas of old, odachis, long swords, and a few other odd-looking weapons.
Morgan lifted the odachi, but it felt too long for his taste; the longsword felt a little heavy to carry around. As he slowly tried out the different weapons, he slowly grasped and got a feel for what he was looking for.
"I need sothing that I can easily conceal and can use to finish a fight in one move."
He eventually settled for a pair of dark dual karambit-like blades. The blades were slightly longer and less curved, with each one being held in one hand. They could easily be used for stabbing, slashing, and ripping flesh.
Luke slightly raised an eyebrow in surprise as Morgan returned with the blades. "An Intriguing choice," He said with a smile.
"Why did you choose those?"
"Well, they’re light, easy to conceal, and most assassins I’ve seen in the movies have one or two blades on their person," Morgan replied in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Alright then. We’re going to have to work on your hand-to-hand combat skills and knife skills simultaneously. When using a knife, you can throw it to inflict harm safely from a distance, but that’s in case you’re using a stiletto or other straight blades."
He picked up a stiletto and deftly threw it into the distance, accurately hitting a dummy’s bullseye to demonstrate his point.
"In this case, you have to utilize the curved edge to inflict as much damage as possible or to simply end the fight as fast as possible."
Luke grabbed a pair of curved blades himself and masterfully demonstrated several attack patterns that involved slashing and stabbing at the opponents’ vital spots.
" You do not simply move your body anyhow; you must have a perfect balance. As you move forward, you must instinctively be aware of your center of gravity, put your weight into your attacks to guarantee they hit. You must be light on your feet to disengage from your opponent at a mont’s notice in case things suddenly go downhill. Aim for the neck and tendons, anything that will slow down your opponent so you can finish the job or put them out of commission."
Luke skilfully executed a sophisticated pattern of footwork as he perford the slashes and stabs. It looked like he was gliding on the floor.
He asked Morgan to mirror his movents, correcting him as they went on. He helped him make slight adjustnts to his posture and instructed him on how to breathe.
"As an assassin, stealth and speed are of utmost importance; once, the way you breathe can help conceal you or give away your location to your enemies, which is why you must master your breathing."
"This is why I put you through all that rigorous diving." He continued to guide him, adjusting the way he balanced on his feet and in the handling of the blades.
"Maintain a relaxed grip on the blades; you must be ready to flip them or reverse them to press your advantage in any situation." He said as he expertly twirled the blades, spinning them with his thumbs, and transferring them to his index fingers without missing a beat.
"After running in the mornings, you’ll co here and practice stabbing and slashing like I’ve shown you. You’ll repeat it until every movent is woven into every fibre of your being. It must beco a part of you; you’ll do it until it’s as natural as breathing to you."
He paused, allowing his words to sink in.
"But don’t just mimic what I’ve shown you, endeavor to make it your style."
Luke walked until he stood in front of Morgan.
"I need you to rember that at so point, these skills I’m teaching you will an the difference between life and death." He said seriously.
"You’re not simply practicing, you’re not rely slashing and stabbing at a dummy. Picture it as your opponent, when push cos to shove, you must be able to kill them, no rcy, no feelings involved, because at the end of the day, it will be your life or theirs. Do you understand ?"
" Yes," Morgan nodded. Luke stared seriously at him for a while before smiling brightly.
"Great, then, you may start. You’ll do one thousand repetitions of each motion in 3 sets. We’ll gradually increase it to 5 sets."
Morgan inwardly groaned. He had escaped one hell only to jump right into the next.
Morgan slashed and stabbed and went through the motions over and over again. His fingers cramped, and he felt his muscles cramp from the repetitive motion.
"Focus on your flexibility, the shift from one move to the next must be seamless, fluid, like water," Luke said as he observed him.
"Keep your opponent guessing, you must be unpredictable, ever flowing, changing, and most importantly, fast." Morgan gradually fell into a tempo, weaving in and around the dummy.
"The boy is truly gifted," Luke thought to himself.
"With ti, he may even surpass Scott."
By the ti Morgan had finally finished, the sun was setting.
" That’s enough for today. Go and rest up."
That evening, during his study session with Rebecca in the library, Conrad was present. " He was dressed in the sa loose-fitting black shirt and jeans. He casually leaned on a shelf with his arms folded across his chest as he listened to their lecture.
" Master Morgan," He nodded.
"Let us begin then. Today we will briefly share about the Dark world," Rebecca began, with a smile.
" I’m sure your curiosity about it has been piqued based on the unusual powers you’ve witnessed in the recent weeks. You are free to ask questions."
"My uncle, Damien, told Alistair got his powers after he got into contact with the Dark world, but that sounds a bit vague. Is there a specific criterion for this to happen? What exactly happened?"
" To be honest, we believe that he simply stumbled into the Dark world, or Tenebris as you know it, at a point in space where the boundary between the Dark world and this one was weakest, think of it as a fault line in the boundary. That is one of the criteria to gain access to the dark world and the unique powers that co with it. You need an access point."
" I don’t think that these faults exist everywhere otherwise, people would be stumbling into them all the ti." Morgan piped up.
" That’s quite astute of you," Conrad interjected.
" Most of these so-called weak points have been found and monopolized by the Great families. They’ve built their strongholds next to them to determine who has access to them. It helps them grow their power and have a hold over anyone who could beco a threat in their eyes."
A slight smirk ford on his face as the words left his mouth.
" We have one on the Thane estate, but it can only be accessed by the Lord of the estate, that is, after he has reached a certain level of mastery. Conrad, if you may."
"When one is first exposed to the Dark world, they beco an initiate. An initiate can sense mild fluctuations in the boundary between Tenebris and the mundane world."
"They’re also able to slowly accumulate energy or power from Tenebris, though it puts a bit of strain on the normal human body, which is why we build the endurance of our bodies. This power is called umbralis."
"We’ve also discovered that this first exposure to umbralis must happen between the ages of ten and seventeen. One’s level of mastery depends on the amount of umbralis they can access and safely contain within their bodies."
Morgan looked at Conrad in surprise.
" How old was Alistair when he got exposed then?"
Conrad smiled.
"He was eighteen. Your grandfather was sowhat of an anomaly. And living as an assassin in those days was quite dangerous; making it to eighteen years was considered a formidable achievent. You could say it was a mark of distinction." Luke said with a hint of reverence in his voice.
" But with the advent of Tenebris, we could live longer and also gained new powers, but at the sa ti, we gained new foes." He found his teeth, and his voice took on a darker edge.
" What level of Mastery are you at then?" Morgan asked with curiosity. Conrad grinned.
" Oh, I’m just a Maestro."
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