They left the sensory deprivation chamber and came to the main hall again before they entered another training room. SLEEP DEPRIVED DEMON had already left the main hall so they didn’t see her there.
“It seems your second senior had decided to do something productive with her time. That is good of her. With that sudden motivation of hers, she can do almost anything. Hopefully, she is up to something good.” SQUARESKULL observed.
“I doubt that,” Soverick said.
His teacher shook his head at Soverick. “Don’t be so negative.”
Soverick shrugged. He very much doubted that his second senior will be up to something good but he didn’t care enough about it to argue with SQUARESKULL.
SQUARESKULL changed the subject.
“You might be wondering why we have so many rooms. They are there to cater to different users and to accommodate my many students. Of your five seniors, only the first, second, and third have finished their practice sessions with me. I still train the other two seniors occasionally. We still have 3 more training exercises to go through for you. Only when you have mastered them will I allow you to join the ranking battles.”
Soverick nodded and inspected the room they just entered. It seemed similar to the last one except that there were some circles drawn on the ground. Each circle is spaced with a distance of a meter between them.
“The technique I am about to give you is called the dance of the spear. It is a movement technique that trains body control. Body control is the ability to exert control over the body such that the full strength of the body can be fully capitalized. I know you already have body control but don’t dismiss this technique because it is a requirement for something higher.” SQUARESKULL began to explain the training exercise.
“This technique is something that everyone at the vitality core stage performs every time because body control is never permanent at this stage. It can easily relapse because body control is not natural for those at your stage.”
“If something isn’t natural, then it will be rectified by the body the same way that the body tries to prevent your vitality core from completing its conversation. This resistance is because the body considers mana unnatural.”
“Only mana entities have a modicum of body control which will increase until they become transcendents. You have the body control that is more than that of an ancient mana entity but less than the perfect control of a transcendent. This means that you don’t need this technique but must master it for what I want to really teach you.”
Soverick nodded.
“Watch and learn. I’ll perform it slowly so make sure to get everything.” SQUARESKULL said before he started a series of movements. His body contorted and stretched in strange ways. The spear dance looked like an aerobic exercise. It didn’t look like something you do with a spear and it didn’t seem difficult.
“Did you get it?” He asked Soverick after performing the movements for 30 minutes. There were no repeated movements but Soverick had it all memorized.
“Yes.” He answered.
“Then show me.”
Soverick performed the spear dance. He stumbled a few times but he completed it. He was slower so it took one hour for him to complete. SQUARESKULL was impressed that he got the entire thing by seeing it once.
He shook his head and said. “You don’t cease to amaze me. What you will do now is to continue practicing the movements until there is no pause in your actions. The transition from one stance to the other must be smooth and fluid. I expect nothing less than perfection from you.”
Soverick nodded and began to perform the exercise. SQUARESKULL chose to sit on his spear and meditate.
Soverick had to admit that he was wrong. The movement exercise was not as easy as he thought. He has good control of his body but the strange dance required him to move his body in ways he did not think were possible. His body had never performed these movements so the unfamiliarity with them felt strange to him.
Imagine freezing your body while you’re off balance. Then somehow regain your balance by pulling yourself up using the contracted muscles of your thigh, stomach, and back. It is just one of the strange movements meant to make usually unassociated muscle groups work together to achieve unusual goals.
It was not difficult per se, just unfamiliar and unnatural. It could not be compared with what he had to do to learn how to run on mud or water. For those techniques, the body could do it if he forced the body. But for these movements, the body isn’t supposed to be able to do it. It is unnatural and difficult.
Just like SQUARESKULL said, he already has body control. He acquired it when he started the footwork technique. So he got the hang of the spear dance after 3 more tries. He spent 30 minutes on it the first time, which fell to 15 minutes for the second time and 6 minutes for the third time.
“I’m done.” He said to SQUARESKULL.
“Do it again.”
Soverick obliged and went through the spear dance. This time he spent just five minutes to complete it.
“How many stances are in the spear dance?” SQUARESKULL asked him.
Soverick thought about it and replied. “172 stances.”
“Good. Now go and stand in that circle at the center of the room. The circles near you will light up occasionally. You must perform each stance in a different circle of light. Follow the pattern of the light.”
The circle he was supposed to start in lighted up immediately. Soverick went to it and performed the first stance. He bent down and touched his toes with his hands then he lifted his right leg backward. He straightened the right leg and stayed in that form waiting for the next circle to light up. It took five seconds but the circle just behind him lit up. So he brought down his outstretched right leg into the lit-up circle. He folded his hand behind him and jumped backward using only his left leg to propel him. He must then balance himself without the assistance of his hands or his right leg. When he has balanced himself on a single foot, he must stretch his left leg forward and remain in this position until the next circle lit up.
The next one was is a circle to his immediate right. To get there he must jump with his single left leg towards it, cover the 2 meters needed to reach the center of the new circle, and not stumble. Then start the third stance.
Without the circles of light, he would have been able to complete the dance of the spear in less than 5 minutes. Yes, the stances require him to stand on a single leg sometimes, or his toes, or even a single hand. It was not difficult when he performed them in place. But to move from one circle to another in such a compromised state was gruesome. It was a gruesome 15 minutes that left his muscles quivering and spasming after. He even sweated which made him admit that it was an aerobic exercise, not some silly made-up contortion.
“How was it?” Karak asked him when the last circle dimmed.
“I can see why it is a movement technique. It is not evident yet but I can tell that I can accelerate much quicker and change directions easily.” Soverick answered.
He felt his body able to make vertical and horizontal shifts more easily. And the distance he could move with different amounts of effort became an instinct that his body could determine without his mind. Spear dance is a technique meant to make the movement of the body through reflex and instinct more efficient. While it is a good thing to be able to respond to killing intent, it is a better thing for the body to respond properly.
“Good. What you just completed is the easy phase. Just 5 seconds for each stance.”
“That’s easy?” Soverick frowned. If he was having problems with it then he doesn’t think others will fare well. And the problem he is having is the physical capabilities of his body. Something felt out of sync.
Karak offered an explanation. “I know what you’re thinking. This is not an exercise for those at the vitality core stage. It is meant for mana entities because they have the necessary range of motion to complete it. Even then they struggle with it, but completing it gives them permanent body control. Only the first exercise without the circle of light is performed by those at the vitality core stage. Do you understand?”
Soverick immediately understood where the problem is.
“I see. It is an inherent limitation of body composition. I have body control, that’s why I was able to complete it even when I shouldn’t.”
He was doing an exercise meant for mana entities who have acquired the flexibility and adaptation of a higher life form. It was understandable that his body shouldn’t be able to perform the spear dance and admirable that his mind was able to assist his body in achieving it. It showed how high the control of his body is.