Kyle grabbed another fish from the shore and bit its head off.
“Focus!” Theodor shouted.
“How am I supposed to focus with these fish constantly trying to bite me?” he asked with a full mouth.
Right now, Kyle was sitting in the shallow waters of the lake.
Beside him, inside the water, was an orange stone.
In his hand was his hammer and a bowl made of stone.
“Keep going. You’re wasting time!” Theodor shouted.
“Sure thing, Boss,” Kyle said with an eye roll.
He grabbed another stone from the shore and held it to the bowl.
Then, he carefully moved his Liquifier to the stone.
The stone partially liquified and fused with the bowl, enlarging it a bit.
“That’s big enough for now,” Theodor said. “Put the Coral Stone in. Make sure that it is fully covered in water.”
Kyle scooped the Coral Stone up with the bowl.
Luckily, there was more Coral Stone in the lake.
“Close the bowl,” Theodor commanded.
Kyle grabbed the lid he had prepared and fused it to the bowl, creating a ball of rock.
“Good,” Theodor said. “Remember, Coral Stone has to be contained in water. The more Ether the water has, the better. It will quickly lose its value if it is exposed to raw Ether.”
Kyle just looked at the bowl.
It had taken him over an hour to create this bowl, and he really hoped that it was worth it.
The first rays of the sun already illuminated the horizon.
“Bring it back to your room. Your training with that hunter will start soon,” Theodor said.
Kyle nodded, stood up, and traveled home again.
The first people had already appeared in the streets, preparing for the day.
Kyle put the stone with the Coral Stone into his room, greeting Samson’s wife.
She was preparing breakfast for Samson, who was still asleep.
Kyle left the house again and went to the clearing where Nervon would be training him.
Nervon was already there, and he was looking at Kyle with annoyance.
“You’re late,” Nervon said with annoyance.
Kyle furrowed his brows and looked at the horizon.
A bit of the sun already peeked out.
“You said at dawn,” Kyle answered. “Looks like dawn to me.”
“At the brink of dawn,” Nervon answered. “The sun is already showing, which means it’s after the brink of dawn.”
“Sorry. I misunderstood, then,” Kyle answered.
Nervon snorted.
“Take out your mace,” he commanded.
Kyle held his hammer in his hand.
“Swing,” Nervon ordered.
Kyle did just that, grabbing the bottom of the hammer’s grip and swinging it from one side to the other.
It felt amazing to swing this heavy thing!
“Feels good, right?” Nervon asked emotionlessly.
Kyle nodded.
“Your mace is very destructive if swung like that. You could probably destroy my shield and break all of my bones if you hit,” he commented.
“Swing again and try to hit me,” Nervon ordered.
Kyle nodded and readied himself.
He charged forward and swung at Nervon, who hadn’t even taken out his weapons.
The big swing missed as Nervon just casually took two steps back.
“Try again,” Nervon said.
Kyle narrowed his eyes and swung again.
He missed again.
And again.
And again.
“You see the problem?” Nervon asked. “Your swing is wide and destructive, but it tells your enemy exactly how you are going to strike. The windup time is too long, and you have to put a lot of energy into swinging this heavy thing.”
“Continue.”
Kyle took a deep breath and shot forward.
This time, he anticipated that Nervon would jump back and swung later.
BANG!
Instead, Nervon also took a step forward.
He caught the shaft of the hammer.
There was still quite a lot of force behind the swing, and his body was pushed to the side, leaving a trail on the ground.
But he had stopped the hammer.
“The enemy can also move in,” Nervon explained. “If you hit the enemy with your mace’s head, it will be devastating to them, but that’s just the thing. It has to be the head.”
“If you swing too late, the enemy can close in and exit your attacking range. If you swing too early, the enemy can take a step back.”
Kyle furrowed his brows.
“But that’s the thing,” Kyle said. “You are not a stationary target, and my swing takes too long. I can’t possibly hit you since you will react accordingly. My swing will always be too early or too late since you will make it too early or too late with your reaction.”
“Correct,” Nervon answered. “Give me your mace.”
Kyle handed the hammer over, and Nervon carried it with great difficulty.
The hammer was obviously too heavy for him.
Nervon stepped back and swung it a bit, his muscles bulging under the stress.
However, the hammer wasn’t nearly as fast in Nervon’s hands as it was in Kyle’s hands.
“I can manage a couple of swings,” Nervon said. “Now, I am going to swing at you casually with mismanaged timings. I want you to take advantage of these timings to deal with the swing.”
Kyle nodded.
Then, Nervon stepped forward and swung.
When Kyle saw the hammer approaching, he got quite intimidated.
That thing was fucking scary!
He felt like all his bones would break if he even slightly touched the head!
Kyle jumped back, easily avoiding the swing.
Nervon ran forward again, and this time, he swung very late.
Kyle just stepped in and caught the hilt of the hammer, stopping it in its tracks.
After another five swings, Kyle got the rhythm down, and the hammer didn’t look as scary anymore.
Sure, if it hit him, it would be horrible, but he was quite confident that it wouldn’t hit him.
“Alright,” Nervon said, breathing heavily. “I will now actually try to hit you. Try to deal with the swing however you want.”
Kyle nodded and grew nervous again.
Nervon charged forward and swung.
The swing was obviously too late, and Kyle stepped forward.
Suddenly, Nervon stopped in his tracks.
In a fluid motion, he took a step back, putting more distance between the two.
Kyle’s eyes widened.
The hammer crashed into him!
BANG!