Three weeks later, the sun beat down on the training grounds of the Myriad Spirit Academy, casting sharp shadows while the clash of shattering ice against a weapon could be heard. In the midst of this orchestrated chaos, Lassim and Valeria were locked in an intense sparring session.
Lassim, now showing signs of being more agile and aware, weaved through Valeria’s onslaught of attacks. His movements showing more fluidity in a pattern of dodges, blocks, and while also deflecting her attacks. His mastery over the basic defensive maneuvers she had been training him in was evident in each parry and sidestep, yet Valeria’s experience and raw power still found ways to surprise him.
She used her icicle attacks sneaking through his defenses for every gap she saw.
As another icicle grazed Lassim’s shoulder, freezing his blue and golden sleeve, Valeria called a halt to the spar, her expression thoughtful. "You’ve mastered the movements and the theory," she acknowledged, her voice carrying over the field, "but you’re still reacting, not anticipating. You need to feel the battle, not just see it."
She paced before him, her gaze intense. "When you eventually face the abyssal legion, let alone a Dragal, you won’t have the quick reaction time needed to survive. You must develop yourself to be aware of your surroundings at all times, sense the shifts in mana, and predict your opponent’s next move before it happens." She halted, turning to face him squarely.
"Your spiritual sense would be your main tool for this, but yours is still barely able to leave the confines of your body at this stage. I have an idea. Let’s try something... different."
With a swift motion, Valeria produced a thick blindfold from her magic pouch and secured it over Lassim’s eyes. "From now on, you’ll fight blind," she declared. "Learn to sense the mana in your surroundings, feel the air shift with each attack I launch at you, and use that to guide your defense."
Lassim tensed at the idea of not being able to see, but he nodded, understanding the importance of this unorthodox method. As soon as the blindfold was in place, Valeria didn’t hesitate. She began forming ice attacks in the air to launch at him. Then, when 20 small ice orbs floated in the sky around him, she sent them one at a time with carefully aimed precision.
Without his sight, Lassim struggled. The first few attacks hit him squarely against his head from various angles, the cold of the ice seeping into his forehead and soaking his hair. He flinched, trying to use the basic movements he had learned to evade the assaults, but without his vision, he was too slow, too reactive. He tried listening to the sounds, but it wasn’t enough.
Valeria’s voice cut through the sound of his ragged breaths. "Don’t just flail around, Lassim! Sense the mana, feel the flow of the elements! You need to be aware of every fluctuation around you."
Gradually, Lassim began to focus, not on the absence of his sight that was making him nervous, but on the presence of the elemental energy around him. He could feel the small flicker of a chill in the air moments before each ice orb moved, and even more of a presence when the ice orbs reformed for another round.
’There... over there, a disturbance! I can sense it, it’s casts a ripple against all the other mana in the air, just like dropping a stone into water,’ Lassim realized, his mind latching onto the sensation.
He began to notice the ice mana impacting the other particles, a splash of elemental energy that preceded each of Valeria’s strikes. It was subtle, and something he had yet to consider, but now that he could feel it, undeniably useful. ’So this is what she meant by anticipating. It’s not just looking and reacting; it’s this,’ he mused internally, a spark of understanding igniting within him.
The subtle shift of the mana kept presenting itself as Valeria prepared or launched her attacks. It was faint, easily drowned out by his own racing heart beat, movement and ragged breaths, but it was there. She even subtly assisted his senses by wiggling each ice orb in place a few times before hitting him with it, making the signal easier to notice.
He slowly picked up on this extraneous movement as well, grateful internally for her making it easier on him.
With each passing moment, he grew more attuned to the environment, his body starting to react to what he felt in the mana. After nearly thirty minutes, an icicle barely grazed his arm, then another skimmed past his cheek, each one a near miss as he slowly but surely began to anticipate Valeria’s strikes.
He was beginning to understand and adapt. The ice that struck him now did so less frequently, and his movements grew more confident, more in tune with the unseen forces around him.
As the session wore on, Lassim’s breathing steadied, his focus sharpening. He was becoming a warrior who could feel the ebb and flow that battle’s mana had on the surrounding with a crisper clarity than he had been able to before.
This continued for a full two hours with Valeria gradually reducing the hints she gave by shaking the ice orbs before launching them, and by increasing the speed and frequency to which she sent them towards him.
With each new attack, the sensations grew clearer. The cold bite of the ice forming, the rush of displaced air elements being pushed aside, even the faintest change in the other elements in the ambient mana—all became signposts, guiding his movements.
’I’m not just dodging blindly. I’m learning to see through the connection of mana. Every attack, every shift in the air is a clue, a signal,’ Lassim reflected as his body began to respond more swiftly and more accurately with each passing moment.
After nearly 5 full hours and 30 consecutive dodges, she approached him while announcing, "Good job. You should have a better sense of what you need to be on the look out for now."
Valeria removed the blindfold, the world came back into focus, but Lassim’s perception of it had irrevocably changed. He was soaked in sweat and speckled with bruises, but his eyes shone as he was able to see and sense mana better than before.
"We will continue this again tomorrow." Valeria said, a toothy smile gracing her battle-scarred features. "This is just the beginning. Sensing mana and anticipating attacks will become second nature to you in time. Go and get some rest, and here. Use this healing potion.
Your head looks incredibly swollen like a giant peach and I don’t want the headmaster to say I was bullying you too much." She passed him a small red luminescent vial which he quickly consumed.
"Master do you mind if I borrow that blindfold? I’d like to practice going up and down the surrounds while only relying on my senses for mana." He asked.
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Her expression softened again into one of approval. "I like your initiative, kiddo. Sure, you can use the blindfold. Training your senses to navigate will help you even more than just battle. It should eventually make your control over your spirit sense stronger in the long run when it’s more developed." She responded, her tone encouraging.
Handing over the blindfold, she continued, "Try and focus on the fluctuations, but also notice how stationary objects like the trees, plants and buildings, everything that exists, also radiates small amounts of mana.
If you can reach a level of mastery that allows you to build a full picture of your surroundings in your mind, then you’ll certainly have a prodigy level control over spirit sense when you advance."
Lassim, accepting the blindfold with a nod of gratitude, tied it around his eyes, effectively plunging his world into darkness again. "Thank you, Master Valeria."
He then took a moment to orient himself, drawing a deep breath to center his thoughts.
"Now... the exit of the abode is that direction," he gestured to his left with his arm, "I’ll start with simple steps first to get accustomed to it," he declared, cautiously stepping forward, his senses reaching out to feel the subtle shifts in the air that his being had on the surrounds. He focused on the mana that permeated the environment.
Valeria watched him for a moment, her arms crossed, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Good luck. I’ll see you here tomorrow." With that, she lazily walked away.
Slowly leaving the training ground, Lassim began his solo blinded practice, carefully navigating the way out of the building and down the mountain. Feeling his way through the landscape, he was reliant solely on his newly discovered mana sense. Eventually, he realized he could treat his own mana as a beacon that disrupted the surrounding mana as well.
This was especially useful when the trees became denser as he accidentally ventured off the path. It allowed him to use the echoes of the mana in response to carefully understand where he was in relation to his surroundings.