Symphonic Odyssey
: Vol. Two: Beneath the Hawthorn Tree: Verse Fifty-Nine

For the last couple of days, he had found himself on the training grounds with a sword in his hands. Alvin had wanted to see what he was capable of firsthand, and Cypher was all too happy to show him the skills he had the most pride in. He had also taught Cypher how to use his second spell! In truth, it was a simple spell whose only purpose was for training. It was a spell used to guard the sharp edges of a bladed weapon or to soften the blows from a blunt weapon like a mace.

Even the incantation had been simple. Alvin had taught him the words, as well as the way in which he needed to manipulate his Zight. It was such a simple spell that it didn’t even need a diagram. As Alvin went on to explain, it was a very simple manipulation of the air around a weapon that instructed it on how to behave when it made contact with skin or clothing.

With a spell like this, they could go all out without worrying about causing more harm than simple bruises which were quite common in most forms of training. Cypher took to learning the spell with ease and within only an hour had mastered its use.

With that out of the way, it came the time to pick a weapon. After going over the various weapon types and their strengths and weaknesses, Cypher settled on swords as his weapon of choice. To him, it was an obvious pick, but it hadn’t been as easy a choice as he had first thought.

It wasn’t so much that the other types of weapons were not to his liking. In fact, he was quite fond of several weapons and Jelroy’s studied explanation of various combat styles really came in handy. He first explored the idea of using a weapon called Iron Knuckles.

They were large solid gauntlets closed tightly into fists. They had spikes on the knuckles and when opened, they could fire air blasts made of Zight. They were interesting but heavy and dense and would require a lot of time to get used to.

Furthermore, they would require an entire course in special martial arts in order to master their unique fighting style. It would be difficult to learn and while he would have to train in advanced hand-to-hand combat eventually, the Iron Knuckles would require far more specialized discipline than a standard course.

In the end, he decided against them. Its lessons were a time-consuming task that he just wasn’t willing to deal with and besides, they were more useful in the hands of Wind element Conductors anyways.

Another weapon he had enjoyed was known as a Collapsythe. In form, it was basically a large sharp scythe that was surprisingly easy to use despite its unbalanced style. Its main feature, of course, was that it could fold down into its staff-like handle.

Once it was in this secondary form, a Conductor could funnel Zight along a channel on the side. After enough Zight was accumulated, it could be fired off as bolts of energy making it not only an efficient melee weapon but a powerful projectile launcher as well.

Cypher didn’t care for the long-range aspect of the weapon however, the learning curve was high and required great focus to master, so he had decided against it as well. If he was to use long-range attacks, they would most likely be in the form of powerful spells and not simple projectiles.

One weapon, in particular, caught his eye more than the others. It was called a chain blade. The weapon was built sort of like a traditional whip, however, instead of leather, it was made of a tightly wound steel cable encased in interlocking metal blades that could move freely with the cable as it was swung around.

Using their mental energy and Zight, a person could control the angle and speed of these blades. There were several special techniques one could learn for dominating the battlefield. With little more than a flick of the wrist, one could send the whip screaming through the air toward an opponent at incredible speeds.

Its key feature aside from the whip was in the fact that its user could retract the whip back into the glove-like hilt forming a solid weapon that could be used in close quarters. Cypher found that it was quite a gimmicky weapon and it looked not only useful but fun as well.

Despite the gimmick, it was a well-rounded weapon capable of both long-range and close-range attacks as well as defense, but Cypher was unable to get the hang of using both mental energy and Zight at the same time.

Also, the massive gauntlet that the steel cable retracted into was cumbersome and heavy. Perhaps one day he might consider trying it again, but at that time he opted to try another weapon instead.

He had moved through axes, hammers, spears, bows, lances, and a host of other weapon types, but none had suited him. The sword on the other hand fit him perfectly.

He was obviously a bit biased as it had been the only weapon he had ever trained with, but he also had a special talent according to both Alvin and Jelroy. Alvin was open to instructing him in any weapons style he wished but had warned that trying to ignore the gifts fate had bestowed would be foolish indeed, and so Cypher had chosen to focus more on his swordsmanship.

At first, he had been quite confident in his abilities, but he soon came to realize that he still had a lot to learn. First of all, he had become accustomed to holding back in his bouts with Eiden. This proved to be his downfall against Alvin.

After being flung on his back several times by the older man, he was quite frustrated that he could not unlearn such behavior right away. Several bruises covered his chest, arms, and legs but his determination eventually landed him a blow on Alvin’s torso.

The feeling of pride Cypher felt was short-lived though. After that single hit, he could not land even a glancing blow on his master and received more and more bruises as a reward for his efforts. They sparred until the sun began to reach its highest point in the sky, and took a break to eat and hydrate themselves.

After another hour of sparring, Alvin called for them to stop. There were things they needed to discuss and Cypher was all too eager to learn anything that might give him the upper hand over his master.

“You have some skill, that much is certain. However, you have a long way to go if you wish to be called a proper swordsman. I’m not exactly in a position to teach you about the finer points of swinging a sword, but I can tell you that with your current strength, you won’t get very far.”

Cypher scooted closer to his master and listened intently as he began to explain.

“As I mentioned before, there are three aspects that all Conductors have to master in order to become stronger. Orrium, mind, and body. Today we will discuss the body. It is a crucial part of any Conductors training.”

“The three are inexorably linked, and only the mind can advance without training the other two centers of power. This however only applies up to a certain point. A mind is a powerful tool but it is limited by the weaknesses of the flesh. If you studied only in the mind you could certainly achieve powerful results, but your advancement would end after you reached the third rank.”

“At that point, your mind would be more powerful than your body, and further advancement would be impossible due to the limits of the flesh. Likewise, if you only trained your Orrium, you could push its power to the middle of the second rank. But just as with the mind, further advancement would only harm your internal organs and slow down your overall growth.”

“Therefore, one must also train the body. There are various methods for doing this and it will be up to you to discover the path that suits you best. I for example use a method that forces my body to grow by eating poisonous plants. It’s risky, but it suits my needs, and given how far along I am it’s too late to choose another path now.”

“But didn’t you say that there were lots of ways to train the body? Why is it so hard to change your method? Wouldn’t you want to if you came across a stronger one?” Cypher asked, tilting his head to the side.

Alvin simply smiled and responded, “When you have chosen a method, you most often have to continue using that method all throughout your growth during that rank. It is however possible to choose another method once you advance. I myself am in the early stages of my fourth method.”

Cypher’s eyes widened at the realization that Alvin had a rank-three body. He figured that he was strong, but to discover that he was even stronger than the monster that had almost claimed his life on Gelrin Cliff surprised him. Alvin didn’t look very powerful but in the world of Conductors, looks could be deceiving.

He wondered to himself how strong Jelroy was to have been able to fight off the rank-three Horned wolf alone. A new wave of excitement surged through him at the prospect of fighting off strong beasts like that all on his own.

“When will I get the chance to pick a method for my body? Can I pick one now? How do I start?”